Each year, we hear dozens of stories of infants and young children who have died after being left unattended in cars. Each year, an average of 37 kids die of heatstroke in hot cars. While some of these children die after becoming trapped in a car or trunk while playing, many are forgotten by their parents or intentionally left "for a few minutes" while the parent runs an errand. In 2013, 43 children died in hot cars, and since 1998, more than 600 children have died of heatstroke after being left in a hot car.
Many of these are children whose parents are busy, distracted, or simply out of their usual routine and who accidentally, and tragically, forget that their kids are in the car. While it is easy to point fingers and ask what kind of a person would forget his or her own child, statistics show that it can happen to anyone
A wrenching, Pulitzer Prize-winning story in The Washington Post tells exactly what kind of person forgets a child in a sweltering car:
"What kind of person forgets a baby?
The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist."
In some of these cases, forgetful parents are punished by the criminal justice system for a mistake for which they will already punish themselves for the rest of their lives. When a parent's failing has already cost him or her a child's life, what more could a fine or a jail term do to teach a lesson in parenting?
Still, many cases are not simple forgetfulness or "fatal distraction," as the title of the aforementioned article describes. Some parents intentionally leave their children unattended in vehicles as they run errands, take care of business, or worse. When considering these acts of criminal neglect, should the motive be taken into account?
Heather Jensen was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide but found guilty of child abuse resulting in death when her two children, aged 2 and 4, died of hyperthermia after being left in a locked car with the heater running while their mother had sex and got high in a car parked nearby. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Daniel Gray was charged with child abuse and manslaughter after his 3-month-old son died in a hot car while the father went to "check on business" at the sports bar where he worked and allegedly smoked marijuana outside the vehicle while his unattended son died in the car on a 100-degree day.
But contrast these tales with that of Shanesha Taylor, an unemployed mother living on food stamps who, unable to find a babysitter, left her two children in a car while she went to a job interview. Taylor left the windows rolled down, but that isn't enough to prevent heatstroke, nor is heatstroke the only danger associated with leaving toddlers unattended in a vehicle. Taylor's 2-year-old and 6-month-old children survived the ordeal, but their mother was charged with neglect. Some of Taylor's supporters say her act was one of desperation rather than neglect as she tried to get a job to improve her life and that of her children. A site for her support has garnered more than $90,000 in donations. Still, critics say, she abused and neglected her children by leaving them unattended in a vehicle for more than an hour.
Oklahoma is one of 19 states that has a specific law against leaving children and vulnerable adults unattended in a vehicle. The Forget-Me-Not Vehicle Safety Act, found in 47 O.S. 11-1119, reads in part as follows:
B. A person responsible for a child who is six (6) years of age or younger, or a caretaker of a vulnerable adult as defined by Section 10-103 of Title 43A of the Oklahoma Statutes, shall not leave that child or vulnerable adult unattended in a motor vehicle if the conditions, including, but not limited to, extreme weather, inadequate ventilation, or hazardous or malfunctioning components within the vehicle present a risk to the health or safety of the unattended child or vulnerable adult.
C. It shall not be considered a violation of this section if the child or vulnerable adult is accompanied in the motor vehicle by a person at least twelve (12) years of age who is not mentally incompetent as defined by Section 1-103 of Title 43A of the Oklahoma Statutes.
D. Any person convicted of violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by:
- A fine of not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) upon a first conviction;
- A fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and ordered to perform community service of not less than fifty (50) hours upon a second conviction; and
- A fine of not less than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) upon a third or subsequent conviction, and the full record of that person's convictions of the violations of this section shall be submitted to the Department of Human Services for evaluation.
E. Any person convicted of violating the provisions of this section who has left a child or vulnerable adult unattended in a motor vehicle on the premises of any establishment which holds any license for the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises pursuant to Section 521 of Title 37 of the Oklahoma Statutes, and who has consumed any alcoholic beverage during the period of time the child or vulnerable adult has been unattended, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
F. Nothing in this section precludes prosecution under any other provision of law.
At the very least, leaving a child aged 6 or younger unattended in a car can bring a minimal fine; however, charges of child endangerment or child neglect may also be likely. At worst, a child could die, and the parent would suffer not only the loss of his or her child, but also a felony homicide charge.
What do you think? Should intent play a role in criminal charges or sentencing?
