Another hot car incident (child is okay)

[redheadbaker]

Baby is 6 weeks old. There is absolutely no indication that this was done on purpose, and the baby's age leads me to assume that this was an accident. Yet the DA's office is already trying to decide what to charge her with, and people are calling for the death penalty for the mother. 

6abc.com/news/viewer-records-scene-as-infant-left-in-suv/208749/

VIEWER RECORDS SCENE AS INFANT RESCUED FROM SUV OUTSIDE NE PHILLY WALMART

Police say a 6-week-old baby was left unattended inside a SUV in the parking lot of a Northeast Philadelphia Walmart store.

An Action News viewer noticed the crowd and all the commotion around 6:30 p.m. Monday and quickly hit the record button on her cell phone.

"When we pulled into the lot, we saw people standing around the car and some Walmart employees looking around," the viewer told Action News Tuesday night.

It would soon become apparent to her that a 6-week-old baby boy had been left in a silver 2005 Toyota Highlander outside the Walmart on Franklin Mills Boulevard.

As they awaited for help to arrive, the viewer and others became anxious for the infant's well-being.

"It was hot yesterday, not as hot as it has been past days, but hot inside of a vehicle. And I was really annoyed and aggravated, because why would you leave the baby in the car?" the viewer said.

Fortunately, a police officer arrived a few minutes later, at about the same time the child's 35-year-old mother emerged from the Walmart.

The mother was promptly handcuffed and taken into custody.

"From there they were trying to get her to say where the keys were so they could get the baby out of the car," the viewer said.

The officer finally got the keys to the SUV as firefighters and paramedics arrived on the scene.

A short time later, they took the baby out of the car.

The baby was taken to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children for treatment.

"Makes no sense whatsoever cause there's never any reason to leave a child in the car," the viewer said. "Anything could have happened, the child could have been stolen out of the car; anything could have went wrong."

The child is said to be OK and has been placed in the custody of his father.

It remains unclear how long the child had been left alone in the vehicle.

The fate of the mother is still undecided as investigators continue to go over what she will be charged with.

[wawa]

I'm about to stroke out with frustration over the fact that this child was in SUCH FUCKING DANGER but they cuffed the mom before she could actually unlock the door.

SENSE. GET SOME.

[IIOY]

Jul 23, 2014 8:17:34 GMT -5 wawa said:

I'm about to stroke out with frustration over the fact that this child was in SUCH FUCKING DANGER but they cuffed the mom before she could actually unlock the door.

SENSE. GET SOME.

Yes, this confused me.

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

Oh, you guys. I am SO LUCKY I didn't ever do this. At six weeks I was so exhausted I would find the remote in the fridge, or milk in the bathroom. There was more than one occasion where I drove off with the baby still in the house (I did manage to figure it out when the car was eerily quiet as I was driving down the street).

[wawa]

Also, I'd just like to share - I don't usually do daycare droppoff. MH does. I did drop off this morning (7:00 AM) so at 7:30 my phone rings, and it's MH checking to make sure I actually dropped Shorti off rather than driving to work with her in the backseat.

Because he's a good smart boy. Thank god.
(I did remember to take my child to daycare btw. In case anybody was concerned.)

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2014 8:17:34 GMT -5 wawa said:

I'm about to stroke out with frustration over the fact that this child was in SUCH FUCKING DANGER but they cuffed the mom before she could actually unlock the door.

SENSE. GET SOME.

Right?? But then they didn't get why she was upset enough to be flustered over where the fuck her keys were.

This is about how old my daughter was when I forgot she was in the truck on a diaper run.

[debatethis]

Jul 23, 2014 8:19:52 GMT -5 lyssbobiss, Command, B613 said:

Oh, you guys. I am SO LUCKY I didn't ever do this. At six weeks I was so exhausted I would find the remote in the fridge, or milk in the bathroom. There was more than one occasion where I drove off with the baby still in the house (I did manage to figure it out when the car was eerily quiet as I was driving down the street).

Agreed. I lost count of how many times I put his diaper on backwards or completely forgot to put one on in the middle of the night.  This poor mother.

[Deleted]

Wait, so a man is poor poodled for his son's death and it turns out it was on purpose. Then a woman is handcuffed without questioning and people are calling for the death penalty with no evidence of whether this was an accident or not.

This initial reaction to each parent couldn't at all be related to race, right?    

[lyssbobiss, Command, B613]

Also, really, "viewer?" You were "upset and agitated" over this, so you whipped out your cell phone to record the situation? God, what a piece of shit. If you're upset, DO SOMETHING. GOD. Sorry you were so distressed, asshole. I'll pray for emotional peace for you during this difficult time.

[Bad Dingo]

Jul 23, 2014 8:32:58 GMT -5 @silver said:

Wait, so a man is poor poodled for his son's death and it turns out it was on purpose. Then a woman is handcuffed without questioning and people are calling for the death penalty with no evidence of whether this was an accident or not.

This initial reaction to each parent couldn't at all be related to race, right?    

I'm pretty sure the woman who is handcuffed in the video is white.

I'd guess the anger is mostly ignorance as well as backlash stemming from the Georgia incident.

[starlily]

I had to do daycare pickup for DD1 yesterday for the first time in a few weeks, and the whole time driving over there I kept reminding myself "Don't forget to bring the baby inside, don't forget to bring the baby inside, etc." I have a 3 week old so being a) tired and b) out of my routine freaked me out since those are usually the common themes in these incidents. Also, I had forgotten how silent infants can be in the car.

So in other words, unless something damning is revealed, I feel for the mom.

[redheadbaker]

It's already starting on my Facebook feed: one of my FB friends posted the link I shared above, and wrote "6 weeks old? Sterilize." Friends of hers commented with things like "lowlife," (incidentally, that commenter would be the prolifer who basically called me a murderer on my own status about the proposed 20-week abortion restrictions) "horrible parent," etc.

I shared the Washington Post article.

[msmerymac]

Jul 23, 2014 8:17:34 GMT -5 wawa said:

I'm about to stroke out with frustration over the fact that this child was in SUCH FUCKING DANGER but they cuffed the mom before she could actually unlock the door.

SENSE. GET SOME.

Or that people sat there FILMING the scene for evidence instead of actually breaking the window or helping the baby?

I also want to know the mother's reaction when she came out of the store. Did she start running over and screaming and realize she had forgotten? Did she seem apologetic? Did she admit she only meant to be gone for 2 minutes and made a poor decision because she's sleep deprived and her 6 week old baby finally took a nap just as she pulled into the parking lot? This article makes it seem like it was intentional, and that can't be assumed.

[wawa]

You know...I am all about drilling into people's head how quickly a car becomes hot. It is an actual serious danger. People should be 100% cognizant of this danger and not take that risk.

But I am really fucking tired of quotes like this:
"Makes no sense whatsoever cause there's never any reason to leave a child in the car," the viewer said. "Anything could have happened, the child could have been stolen out of the car; anything could have went wrong."

No. Just stop it with this shit. Anything could go wrong at any given second of any given day no matter what you do. THIS IS NOT A REASON. People don't fucking steal infants out of cars. THEY JUST DON'T. At least not at any sort of rate that makes it a reasonable factor in a decision making process. Why would they? You can't sell them out of a trunk or unload them at the shady body shop down the street that's for damned sure. NOT A REAL REASON.

Infants shouldn't be left unattended for extended periods because they go from content and sleeping to awake and covered in shit/puke in a fucking flash and need to be attended to. The shouldn't be left in cars on warm days because that goes from 80 degrees to 120 degrees in an amazingly short period of time. But this chicken little method of decision making where you just let yourself picture the worst case scenario and then go from there just has got to stop.

[romigu]

You know what is crazy? I was picking up my son from daycare and dragging the heavy ass bucket seat in with my 8 week old in it. I ran into another mom (who is an ER physician) and she asked why I was bringing in my youngest son. She said she would leave her youngest in the car at that age during pick up. For the record, the high was 98 yesterday. Sometimes people are idiots

[downtoearth]

Jul 23, 2014 12:16:54 GMT -5 romigu said:

You know what is crazy? I was picking up my son from daycare and dragging the heavy ass bucket seat in with my 8 week old in it. I ran into another mom (who is an ER physician) and she asked why I was bringing in my youngest son. She said she would leave her youngest in the car at that age during pick up. For the record, the high was 98 yesterday. Sometimes people are idiots

Well, I can't judge the other doctor mom right away b/c can you see the car from the daycare?  Do you just step inside the door and not really leave the entry?  Is it in a neighborhood or a busy street.  I guess I understand not wanting to EVER leave your kids in the car, but line-of-sight or close just doesn't seem flammable to me. 

I guess that shows that yes, I've left my kid(s) in the car.  Heck every morning I buckle in the youngest and make the others get in their seats, then go back to make my coffee, take the dog in and lock the house and often grab something that one of them or I have forgotten.  So obviously I make the judgment call to leave the kids in a car everyday. 

[romigu]

Jul 23, 2014 12:28:33 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Jul 23, 2014 12:16:54 GMT -5 romigu said:

You know what is crazy? I was picking up my son from daycare and dragging the heavy ass bucket seat in with my 8 week old in it. I ran into another mom (who is an ER physician) and she asked why I was bringing in my youngest son. She said she would leave her youngest in the car at that age during pick up. For the record, the high was 98 yesterday. Sometimes people are idiots

Well, I can't judge the other doctor mom right away b/c can you see the car from the daycare?  Do you just step inside the door and not really leave the entry?  Is it in a neighborhood or a busy street.  I guess I understand not wanting to EVER leave your kids in the car, but line-of-sight or close just doesn't seem flammable to me. 

I guess that shows that yes, I've left my kid(s) in the car.  Heck every morning I buckle in the youngest and make the others get in their seats, then go back to make my coffee, take the dog in and lock the house and often grab something that one of them or I have forgotten.  So obviously I make the judgment call to leave the kids in a car everyday. 

Welllll - I have left them when I've forgotten something in the house and they are in the driveway and will be visible for the time I need to run in. No judgement there. But at daycare, I must go down a long path, enter three doors (one of which is locked with a door code) and the go inside my son's room to get him. I cannot see the car once I go through the first door. It is a quiet area with little traffic other than the daycare cars and people who see the health care providers in the same building. For me, the three doors is too much distance to leave my new child alone even if the car is running and locked. I was surprised she told me that.

[andrealynn]

I got in to it on my neighborhood FB page for posting the WaPo article explaining how this happens.

[Alyssa]

Why were people standing around like a bunch of sitting ducks? Grab something out of a car and start banging on the windows FFS. Why wait until a firetruck drives up? It's like everyone's afraid to do anything, "OMG I could get in trouble if I hurt someone's car" One dipshit is more concerned about getting it filmed on camera, rather than getting that baby out of the car.

These fuckers suck.

[Deleted]

Jul 23, 2014 12:34:09 GMT -5 romigu said:

Jul 23, 2014 12:28:33 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Well, I can't judge the other doctor mom right away b/c can you see the car from the daycare? Do you just step inside the door and not really leave the entry? Is it in a neighborhood or a busy street. I guess I understand not wanting to EVER leave your kids in the car, but line-of-sight or close just doesn't seem flammable to me.

I guess that shows that yes, I've left my kid(s) in the car. Heck every morning I buckle in the youngest and make the others get in their seats, then go back to make my coffee, take the dog in and lock the house and often grab something that one of them or I have forgotten. So obviously I make the judgment call to leave the kids in a car everyday.

Welllll - I have left them when I've forgotten something in the house and they are in the driveway and will be visible for the time I need to run in. No judgement there. But at daycare, I must go down a long path, enter three doors (one of which is locked with a door code) and the go inside my son's room to get him. I cannot see the car once I go through the first door. It is a quiet area with little traffic other than the daycare cars and people who see the health care providers in the same building. For me, the three doors is too much distance to leave my new child alone even if the car is running and locked. I was surprised she told me that.

Do you know my own son has started shaming me over running in the house to grab something with the kids buckled in the driveway? "Mom, a bad guy could take us."

Well, any time you and your brother stop taking 10 minutes to transition in and out of the car, with all your fighting and OCD rituals, then I'll let you run inside with me to grab my sunglasses.

[ttt]

What the hell was the point of handcuffing this woman in the first place?? Was she really violent or potentially violent??

I need more information before I form an opinion about whether she should have been arrested or not, or whether this was an accident or intentional or simple negligence (like knowing the baby was there but, oh it will just be a few minutes). But the rush to punish the mother before even attempting to get the baby to safety is absolutely ridiculous and shows what these people really care about (and it's not the baby's well being).