Woman spots "forgotten" child in car (child dies anyway)
OK. If I saw this, I would NEVER leave the car until help arrived. Dial 911 while I was standing beside the vehicle. If I didn't have a cell phone, I'd find someone who did or go inside, whatever, and get the call made, then go back to the car. And if help wasn't there in 20 minutes, I'd break the damn window. Sue me. Was she worried about being late for work? How does she feel now, I wonder?AUSTIN POLICE
Police: Baby spotted in parked car before his death
Driver told security guards, who looked for but couldn't find child, official says.
By Tony Plohetski
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, August 20, 2009
On the day a toddler was found dead inside a sweltering car, a woman had seen him and reported it to private security guards who unsuccessfully searched for the boy, Austin police confirmed Wednesday.
Austin police Lt. Mark Spangler said the woman saw 18-month-old Daniel Hu within 30 minutes of his father parking the car in a huge Northwest Austin lot last week and thought the infant was still alive.
She told guards about what she had seen, Spangler said, and they "made some effort" to find Daniel. Spangler said investigators are trying to learn what steps the guards took.
Daniel's father, who has since told detectives that he "just totally forgot" to take his son to day care that morning, found him dead seven hours later.
"It was a missed opportunity," Spangler said. "If everything had fallen into place, the child would have been located and we hope would be alive today."
Kesen Hu, Daniel's father, has been charged with endangering a child, a state jail felony for which he could receive two years behind bars. Prosecutors have said the charge and penalty could be increased because it involved a death.
Daniel died of hyperthermia, according to an arrest affidavit. The temperature in Austin that day was 82 at 9 a.m. at Camp Mabry and peaked at 104, according to the National Weather Service.
On the morning of Daniel's death, Spangler said, the woman — whom he declined to identify — showed up for work about 30 minutes after Hu, who arrived at his PayPal job at 9:20 a.m. She parked next to Hu's car.
She went inside her office building, where she alerted one of three guards about the infant. Spangler said he is unsure how, or if, the woman followed up.
"Whether she gave them locating information for her, and whether they did or didn't get that, I don't have any clue," Spangler said. "She may have believed in her mind that she reported the incident and the child was being located."
Spangler said he did not know where the woman works but said investigators have questioned her. The office complex has several businesses, including Freescale Semiconductor.
He said a guard who took information from the woman took steps to find the car. However, Spangler said he didn't know the specifics.
"I am assuming that he looked to the best of his ability and didn't see what was reported to him," he said.
Spangler said detectives took statements from security guards on the day of the incident but have not formally interviewed them. He said he did not know the names of the companies for which they worked.
Austin police said they did not receive a 911 call about the incident before the child was found.
They are investigating whether a 911 call might have been routed to dispatchers in Williamson County. The parking lot is in the Austin police patrol area but in Williamson County.
Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, whose office has charged Hu, declined to comment Wednesday.
Jan Null, a meteorologist and adjunct professor of meteorology at San Francisco State University who has studied hyperthermia deaths in children, said it doesn't take long for children left in a hot car to die. The length of time depends on the outside temperature, time of day, how the child is dressed, how well the child is hydrated and whether the car is in direct sunlight, he said.
Considering those variables, a child left in a car in the middle of the day in sunlight can die in less than 30 minutes or it can take up to an hour earlier in the day, Null said.
"I don't want anyone to think, 'Oh, I've got an hour,' " he said. 'The screaming message is, never leave your child for any amount of time at any time of the day in the car."
tplohetski@statesman.com; 445-3605
I'm starting to wonder about all these people who "forget" their children while they bake inside a car-shaped oven. Are they subconsciously overwhelmed and make a mistake that makes life a little simpler? Zoned out on meds?
I see what you're saying, but this woman, imo, is the very last person who deserves any blame for this. She is the last one who should feel any guilt about this. I can understand why someone would report this to authorities/security and believe it is being dealt with since it is such a big issue. They need to start putting parents in jail for this shit no matter how much they've "suffered already" (TM).Originally Posted by VadaFaith
Only the good die young.........................
bitches like me live forever!!!!!!!!!!!!
^ exactly! No, Oh by the way there's a kid in that car out there.. wth?!
'High, High. Yaw Both High and Smokin' Weeeed in Front of My Howse"Bah-Brahhh-Teen Mom
I admit I sounded a little harsh. It just freaks me out because of the botched opportunity to save a child's life. I'm guessing that right now she feels like shit, even though she shouldn't feel like she's to blame because she did try to help. She probably wishes she'd done things differently, though. A child is dead. She thought she did the right thing, but was apparently dealing with lazy and/or inept people. It's the old "If you want something done right, do it yourself."this woman, imo, is the very last person who deserves any blame for this.
I also figure the security cops and their corporate lawyers are getting their stories straight so that she ends up looking like she didn't give good info. They're going to cover their asses. And the dad is being charged. But I bet he doesn't do jail time.
Could they make car seats that sound an alarm (or make the horn sound ever five seconds) if the kid is still in the seat five minutes after the engine is turned off? (weight sensor or something?)
How can you forget a child being in a car? I just don't get that at all. It's so sad that this seems to happen too often.
i wouldn't have left the car. you know she had a cell phone so why not call 911 as soon as she saw the baby in there?
I'm suspicious by nature, but it seems to me the perfect way to get out of child-support payments/get back at spouse/a Munchausen-By-Proxy screwed-up way to gain sympathy. I can see it happening by accident once in a while, but it's weekly nowadays. There's no way to prove intent. The person would have to confess, basically, in order to be convicted of anything.
The woman alerted 1 of 3 guards. what did the 3 guards do? they all should have been notified and shared the responsiblity of finding the father and checking on the child. it's their job to follow up on these kind of reports. they are to be held more accountable. the woman at least did her part even if she went on to her job. imo they should all be fired.
I think we're focusing on the woman who saw the child because that's the person we most identify with in this scenario. None of us would "forget" to take our kid to day care, and we probably don't work as security guards (but if we did, we would do our jobs correctly and find that kid). But it's easy to imagine seeing a child left in a car--in fact, it's something I watch for a bit.
I think it's too bad the woman didn't consider that she might have been the child's only hope of surviving. If she'd thought of it that way, I'm sure she would have handled things differently. Also, she might have assumed that someone was going to come back for the child, so she might not have thought it was a situation to panic over yet. Her report to the guard might even have been along the lines of, "By the way, kid in a car, didn't see the parent, you might want to look into that." You might see a child sitting in a car in the A.M. in a hot climate, but it's just unthinkable that anyone would leave them there as the day begins to get staggeringly hot. So unthinkable I'll bet she didn't imagine the kid sitting there for hours and dying.
Poor little soul.
Posted from my fucking iPhone
ugh, i hate these stories so much
I don't blame the lady at all, but if it were me and I wasn't able to call 911 for whatever reason, the very LEAST that I would do is show the guards where the baby was located, and help them try to get the baby out.
Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.
I would have tried to break out the window while calling. Whatever I could find-that window is gone!
I didn't start out to collect diamonds, but somehow they just kept piling up.-Mae West
I can't blame this woman either, but being a mother myself, I couldn't have walked away from the car. I would have done what a PP said and called 911 right then and there, or if I didn't have my phone (almost never), I would wait until somebody drove/walked by.
I, too, always wonder how someone could just FORGET they have their precious child in the car with them. I have never been there, but I've never been in those shoes either (being a WOH parent with daycare drop off duties). IDK, I still don't see how I could be THAT preoccupied with whatever that I wouldn't think about my kid ALL DAY long and only discover at the end of my work day as I was leaving, that holy shit, I left my kid in the car all day!!
Me too. Something doesn't quite add up about this story but it's very sad. That father will have to live with the guilt of this for the rest of his life and that's probably punishment enough. Oh, and cut off his gonads so he can't breed any more kids to put at risk.
Why do people say "Grow some balls"? Balls are weak and sensitive! If you really wanna get tough, grow a vagina! Those things take a pounding! -Betty White
This:
And this:She told guards about what she had seen, Spangler said, and they "made some effort" to find Daniel. Spangler said investigators are trying to learn what steps the guards took.
What doesn't add up is the lack of concrete statements from the security guards outlining what they did on the basis of the woman's report. I mean, detectives investigating a child's death didn't formally interview eye-witnesses?He said a guard who took information from the woman took steps to find the car. However, Spangler said he didn't know the specifics.
"I am assuming that he looked to the best of his ability and didn't see what was reported to him," he said.
Spangler said detectives took statements from security guards on the day of the incident but have not formally interviewed them. He said he did not know the names of the companies for which they worked.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks