Toddler Dies In Hot Florida Car As Heat Dome Sweeps Nation

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, folks, it is Wednesday, July first, and a dad in Florida went to his son's daycare at the end of the day to pick up his son. But the daycare said, your son is not here. In fact, you did not drop him off this morning. And that's when they all realized what was happening. And that's when they went out to the parking lot and made a horrific discovery. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Ropes. We every hot card death is tragic, none more so than the other we see these stories, but for whatever reason, some of the details of this one are particularly gutting.

00:00:41
Speaker 2: I agree, because this dad had gone through his entire day believing that he had dropped off his child a daycare. All the while he has parked his car. And this is Florida, this is Plantation, Florida, Central Florida, and temperature is out side the car got into the nineties that day. So to just go about your business, drive back to the daycare center and think, ah, let me just pick up my son, and the entire time he had been in the backseat.

00:01:14
Speaker 1: Folks, we see this does happen every single year. Some more high profile than others, I should say, Robes. And we've covered plenty throughout our careers. Again, some more high profile than the others. This one is getting particular attention right now. Rogues. One. Of course, anytime you have this is going to get attention. But two, we're in the midst of what is going to be a hell of a record breaking and dangerous heat wave, so this is already on the top of people's minds. But yes, the details here we do not have, and they haven't released names of everybody involved just yet, at least police have not. But Robes they got a call. This was helping me with the day. Here was this on Friday. This was it was a Monday, Monday, Monday on Monday.

00:01:57
Speaker 2: It was Monday evening around five pm.

00:02:00
Speaker 1: So yes, this is the World of Discovery Academy daycare. But they call nine one one at five forty pm in Robes. This was right after this dad had shown up to the World of Discovery Academy to pick up his son.

00:02:15
Speaker 2: Yes, and so there was confusion because the workers knew his child wasn't there and they weren't surprised by it. They didn't call the parents and say, hey, what's going on, why isn't your son here? Because the parents had already notified the daycare that their older child wouldn't be attending, So when the younger child didn't show up to the daycare, the workers I think reasonably came to the conclusion that, okay, well that's not out of the ordinary, because maybe they just decided to keep both kids out today. Because I would imagine normally, if your child doesn't show up or something isn't as normal, they would probably notify the parents, just like a school would if your kid doesn't show up, they let you know, get.

00:02:59
Speaker 1: That email every time. So being steps into that school two minutes late, I get unnoticed. So yes, every time your child's not there you get some kind of alert. But to your point, Robe, then this was key maybe to this story. There was a reason that the daycare wasn't concerned.

00:03:14
Speaker 2: Exactly, so they just went about their day, did not notify the parents, and sadly the father is thinking he dropped him off. Look, a lot of times this is about a change in routine, and if you're used to doing the same thing every day, I don't know if he wasn't always the guy or the parent who dropped off the kid. Something may have changed, something could have distracted him. But my god, So he goes and to pick up his kid, per usual, and there's confusion. They don't know what's going on, and as you pointed out, they all go out to check the car. It was the dad who opened the door.

00:03:49
Speaker 1: And it's the owner that we're getting the details from the owner of the daycare, who was there with the dad when all this was going on. In Ropes, she said she started to piece together and to get their heads around what possibly had happened. So the dad goes out, opens the back door to the vehicle again according to the owner, and immediately closes it and just starts screaming. That's the scene as described now Robes. Again, none more tragic than the others, but that is the moment, right this dad had to realize that he made a mistake. He made a mistake, Robes, and he got so caught up in something else he was doing that he did not realize all day that he had made a mistake.

00:04:37
Speaker 2: This was an eighteen month old boy, right, little boy, man, that's something that you obviously will never get over, that you'll never not remember and think about probably every minute of every day, and you said he was screaming. He was screaming, Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god. And so to imagine, oh, as a parent the heart that first of all, you lost your child. Your child is dead. But second because of you, because of a distracted thought, because of a mistake you made, your child is dead. You are the reason why. And you would think, I would think that that is punishment enough, But that is not typically what we see happen in this country.

00:05:22
Speaker 1: It's harsh, Robes. It's harsh to say it the way it's the reality of what you said. It sounds harsh. But this is one of those cases, Robes. This is not a matter of what I could have done differently, even in the sake of a car accident, Well, I ran a red light, or I should have swerved better, or there are certain circumstances where you could think about handling it differently, making a decision differently that could have changed an outcome. Robes. He is solely to blame. I mean, that's that's just the truth. Is not to be harsh, he is. There's nothing else to point to to blame, to factor in. There's nothing else, and so I don't know how robes any parent gets over the death a year and a half year old child. But to know just something is simple, like you do something so absent minded sometime in our own lives, like oh my god, I left my lock my keys in the house.

00:06:22
Speaker 2: Right, I left my phone on the plane whatever.

00:06:25
Speaker 1: So that ro this. I cannot imagine what his dad dealing with. But do they factor that into deciding whether or not to charge this man with the crime. We don't know how they're going to handle it, but historically rooms chances are he's going to be charged, and statistically speaking, it's really likely he's going through be.

00:06:48
Speaker 2: Each other absolutely. Look, we have covered, as you pointed out, sadly, so many of these cases, and we've both interviewed parents after the fact, and the truth is, most of the time, prosecutors do seek charges against the parent responsible for the child's death. In fifty eight percent of the cases, prosecutors seek the charges, and look, it varies from state to state, but after those charges, thirty two percent of the cases there is a conviction of some type. So a third of parents who are dealing with the most horrific loss possible also then now face criminal charges. Sometimes spend time behind bars. There are varying punishments, but this father is likely going to be in that camp if you look at the statistics.

00:07:39
Speaker 1: Mean, how do you balance that out as a prosecutor? Do you have some type of mercy when there is no indication, there's nothing suggested that this was intentional of any kind. Right, so he made a mistake, but that mistake ropes still led to the death of a child. And I've heard prosecutors say in cases like this before, it's my job to advocate for the victim. That victim is a baby. So I don't know, and there's no word yet on how they might move about this, but they are investigating, checking out the circumstances, and maybe they will charge them, who knows with what, Like you said, varying degrees robes, but there have been some very serious.

00:08:17
Speaker 2: Ones, yes, and look as the deterrent. Look, this is already the third hot card death in the state of Florida this year alone, and the temperatures are only getting hotter. But in terms of how they weigh this, it's interesting. The daycare owner who gave a lot of these details to the press actually said I was the one who called nine one one. I tried to help the daddy. He is part of a wonderful family. They have been with us the past six years. They are great parents. I don't know how much that plays into it, but she said that he I just you don't know how this happens. Instead of taking the drop, making the drop to the daycare, he just went straight from his home to work. He never ever, I don't know if he doesn't usually take that route, if there was a lot of times I've heard of phone calls disrupting, like a parent thinks he's going somewhere or they're going somewhere, and then a phone rings, and then they get distracted and they forget where they were going. The kids asleep.

00:09:15
Speaker 1: But may we already know one thing that was different about his routine. He was dropping off one kid instead of too.

00:09:20
Speaker 2: That's so true.

00:09:21
Speaker 1: That factored, But we know something about the routine was different. One kid wasn't going to be there. Well, these are these are tough, every hell yead These stories are horrific, but they happen every single year. On average, forty deaths a year Hot card deaths. Eighty six percent of them are younger than the age of three and that makes sense. The little bodies can't.

00:09:45
Speaker 2: And they're sleeping. A lot of times you don't hear them, you don't remember they're back there.

00:09:50
Speaker 1: And wrote the other factor in that we're going to get into some of these factors about how it happens. But since you just mentioned that the rear facing seats you can't see the kid.

00:10:00
Speaker 2: That is so true.

00:10:02
Speaker 1: And if the kid's.

00:10:03
Speaker 2: Quiet, people, that's you don't you don't see your child. That's why you know what, babe, that's exactly what I totally forgot about that because they even changed that recommendation from when I was a mom, a young mom. We were able to flip them back around at one, which I was so grateful for because I wanted to be able to see my baby. I know they have mirrors that reflect where you can see that, but I always felt uncomfortable with the back facing seat. I always felt uncomfortable, and I don't know, I'm sure statistically speaking, it still saves way more babies lives to have them facing the back than to have them facing the front, because you've got to think, obviously, if he was getting out, you would see the baby, but when the seat is turned around, you don't remember.

00:10:47
Speaker 1: You literally cannot see the child that time. If the head is going the other way and their sleep being quiet, you cannot see a thing. So who knows if that factored into this at all. But I was ROAs, I was blown away by this. It makes sense. But we know overwhelmingly how the circumstances surrounding kid deaths hot car deaths in this country, they happen just like this, when somebody is dropping a kid off at daycare. Forty five percent of hot car deaths include that circumstance.

00:11:19
Speaker 2: Robes, that's crazy because they it must be a deviation from their normal routine, and they forget because they're not used to dropping the kid off at daycare, and things happen, life happens. Who knows, but my god, that is a staggering statistic.

00:11:36
Speaker 1: Well stay here, we're going to stagger you. You're going to be some more staggering information here at Robes. We are going to get into, just for a moment, whether or not he should be charged with a crime. One advocacy group says absolutely not, but hear there are reasons why you might go along with Also will get into some of the details that we've been touching on how these things can happen, who it happens to, and how to prevent this. Stay here and.

00:12:14
Speaker 2: Welcome back to this episode of Amy and TJ, where there is a sad and tragic reminder that heat kills. And this is a story that I know every time we report it, every time we talk about it, parents caregivers shudder at the thought that they could possibly leave their infant child in a hot car leading to their death. Well, that's exactly what happened in Plantation, Florida, earlier this week, and a father may be facing charges now after his near two year old son died after being left in ninety degree weather outside the vehicle. Look, they've even had cases where it's been less than seventy degrees outside and a child still dies from heat exposure in that vehicle. It can happen quickly, and the temperature rises rapidly, So when it's that how outside in Florida, it's just an awful situation that can be avoided. And look, this is the ninth this death is the ninth hot car death already this year in this country. And we're about to experience a heat wave and some of us are already in the middle of it.

00:13:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, crack windows don't work at all with this doesn't work with your dog either, It just does not work. And overwhelmingly the statistics show that when this happens, it's an accident, and it's a caregiver that this happens to. It's somebody who cares about that child, a parent of Nanio, whoever it may be, is when it happens. It's rare. Robes that it happens, and it does. Shouldn't say rare, but it does happen. When people make bad decisions like oh, I'm just running into the store for a minute, those kind of things happen too. I think those probably lead to more charges.

00:13:53
Speaker 2: Well, I was going to say that would be more criminal in nature, because you are tempting fate. And it is illegal in some states to leave children unintended in cars, period, regardless of the temperature.

00:14:02
Speaker 1: Even those folks don't have ill intent but make a very stupid or very bad and even a tragic decision. But I don't know, Rodes how much a prosecutor deals with that part of sympathy in making a decision like this. I do not know. There are plenty of people who think you do not, and you should not charge parents who you know had no ill intent but made an awful mistake. The group I quoted kids in Cars, this advocacy group that we get so many of these statistics from, but they advocate and try to always educate about kids and hot cars. This is how they explained why and how, or excuse me, why they believe folks should not be charged. They very succinctly made a point, and it kind of a light bulb went off when they said.

00:14:52
Speaker 2: Yeah. They said, criminalizing unintentional acts is not a deterrent for future tragedies. In fact, it serves to further enforce the idea most parents believe. This could never happen to me. Interested that is such. It took me a second to get what they were saying, I'll be honest, But once it landed, I thought, my god, that's so true, because you now doing us versus them. I would never do that. Oh, I can't believe they did that. That's a criminal act. How dare they versus the empathy and understanding that it could happen to any of us? And when you think about it in those terms, why would you further punish a parent? The biggest punishment I could ever receive. Oh, I could get emotional saying it is knowing that my child was no longer alive because of something I did. There would be no greater punishment. I wouldn't even care at that point. I don't think if I was locked up forever like that would never be. Oh. Parents aren't thinking I don't want to go to jail. They're thinking I don't want my child to die.

00:15:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's not thinking about me. He's nothing about jail at all. He could give it. Damn. He absolutely at this point, but broke that idea. And this is something I always think about. With our dear friend Jeff Gardier when he was making this point at some event, he talked about people projecting and people having difficulty or whatever in their own lives, and then they see somebody else, and they see somebody they can target, and they just project and they just start pouncing on them. This idea rode that we can all separate ourselves from someone who did something like this by saying you're a terrible person, you're a bad parent. You're separating yourself. You're not putting yourself in their shoes, and therefore you think you are invincible. Therefore you are not making proper adjustments, and maybe you're you're not paying attention the way you should. And I just they put it in such a succinct way that just this, By actually charging people with this, you're criminalizing something that is now turning everybody into these aren't monsters. All these parents, especially this guy. He is a parent just like anybody else who cares about their kid. And he made a mistake. You can do it too. That's how I wish we stopped doing covering a lot of stories and looking at a lot of things like this. Yes, that's you too, that idiot that just did that thing. You're capable of your family members are they made a mistake, you can make the same. We separate ourselves like that, we stop having sympathy and certainly empathy for our fellow man. That's certainly where we are right now. It seems, Ropes, we're all the same. I think we want the same things, we love the same way, We have the same passions and robes. We make the same damn mistakes.

00:17:22
Speaker 2: Yes, all of us have been on autopilot. As you pointed out, it might have been something as simple as I left my glasses, I left my keys, I left my phone.

00:17:30
Speaker 1: It's quick distraction.

00:17:32
Speaker 2: It doesn't take much for our brains to shut down. And that is almost certainly what happens in all of these cases, or nearly all of these cases.

00:17:40
Speaker 1: There was a I did read a scientist was making that. You just said autopilot. They do talk about how your brain and many of us we just get in routine on autopilot. They said that actually shuts down your memory. It shuts down your memory. You actually don't remember what you're supposed to be doing because you're just doing stuff.

00:17:59
Speaker 2: How many times do you because we are exceptionally busy, and the busier you are, the more likely that is to happen. Period, But you how many times have each of us walk into a room and go, why did I come in here? I mean all of us have done that. It's the same mindset.

00:18:12
Speaker 1: That's yes, that is one hundred percent, So you can see how it happens. I just you feel terrible for this guy, Robes, And if they think punishment needs to I don't know where I would sit.

00:18:23
Speaker 2: I know where I sit.

00:18:24
Speaker 1: Somebody needs to be punished in this victim. I just don't know. Robes how I would. Ah, I don't know how it.

00:18:31
Speaker 2: Look if you make a choice to leave your kids in the car for whatever reason. I'm all about criminally charging those parents. But a parent who just makes a tragic mistake, like in this case and so many others we've reported on, I just don't. I just think it's it's salt.

00:18:50
Speaker 1: In the wound and how we've hit on a little bit here. How does this happen? We talked about routine change a kid's presence. They said, robes isn't a normal part of your routine. Maybe you're just doing a favor that day, and I don't know, you got the kid in the car. Maybe you stop at the gas station, maybe you make a quick stop, and then all of.

00:19:09
Speaker 2: A sudden, you forget there's a kid.

00:19:11
Speaker 1: There's a kid back there, and you the statue saw up there. The miscommunication between caregivers ropes eleven percent of the death I do happen.

00:19:19
Speaker 2: I have seen that happen.

00:19:20
Speaker 1: I happened you as a miss who's getting the kid? Who I thought it was you? Oh? I thought it was you? Who's got waits me? Today? I? Oh I got the kid? Worlds, That's that's a high percentage just from miscommunication that kids are dying. Perhaps you drop the kids off out of order.

00:19:37
Speaker 2: As another suggestion, yep, I mean I have heard all of these stories. If it's and it can happen to anyone, that is the biggest deal. And so that is why we have seen cars and sometimes we rent cars and we'll be in another and they'll have the alert in the back of the car that'll tell you check for child, and it'll light up on the dash. Sometimes they even have an audio.

00:19:58
Speaker 1: Do we have that in our car right now?

00:19:59
Speaker 2: I I don't know. I don't think we do. We don't have a family friendly car. It's not a car that most families would choose.

00:20:07
Speaker 1: But you can put a family in it.

00:20:09
Speaker 2: You could, but it's more of a fun car rather than a family car.

00:20:14
Speaker 1: Yes, but those alerts. Again, we have been past our baby stages for quite a while. I've been toting around kids for a while, So we didn't have this in our cars when we had kids. So we only see them when right we don't need them, But I imagine these are great tools. How do you keep this from happening? The first thing all these advocacy groups will tell you is just make sure to check the back seat, and that sounds simple enough.

00:20:41
Speaker 2: Just always make that be a part of your habit. And then put a kid toy in the front seat to remind you there as a child. I've heard that one before and that makes a lot of sense, just to remind you, know, to remind you I've got a kid back there. And then just have a policy in place with the daycare no matter what, even if I've told you, still call and tell your kid's not here, or send an email or send a text, because that time could be everything.

00:21:05
Speaker 1: That's a good safety tip.

00:21:06
Speaker 2: I agree. I think that is huge. And look, there are things you can do, and the biggest thing you can do is not to tell yourself it can't happen to you. You have to believe it's possible. You have to believe or accept that we all get distracted and something that is as important as a child can still slip your mind if you get that. What if you get some big call that was I told you. I sat down with the dad. He got a call. He had been out of work, he had dropped off his other two. He didn't normally drop off the toddler. Normally it was his wife, but he was going to be going back home. He was going to go there and then go home, and he got a call that he got a job at a construction site, and he got so excited he just went straight to the construction site and never remembered that he was supposed to drop off his toddler. It happens. It happens to the nicest, kindest, and yes, really good parents. It happens to them too.

00:22:00
Speaker 1: This thing we'll hit on here is something I just simply could not believe. But this advocacy group, part of the thing you see them talk about in their writing is about this. We talk about these alert systems in cars that let you know, hey, check the backseat to make sure a kid's not back there several cars, and many of you listening have been in cars. Maybe you have one, we just said we don't, but robes. There has been a push for years to have a requirement that all new cars have that in it. Well, the rule was put in place in twenty twenty one and supposed to be finalized in twenty twenty three. It's twenty twenty six. They haven't put the finishing touches on it to put the policy in place. Robes. I was reading about that, and then I was looking it up, and just three weeks ago, Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut wrote to the NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, pushing and demanding that they implement the rule and make automakers put these in cars to do what robs save potentially kids' lives from hot cars.

00:23:05
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:23:06
Speaker 1: And that was just three weeks ago, and here we are talking about this story today.

00:23:09
Speaker 2: My goodness, Well.

00:23:11
Speaker 1: I wonder if this will be a part of the push. In the conversation Robes, that was just three weeks ago, he said, hey, what the hell are y'all doing?

00:23:18
Speaker 2: Well? Good? And look, this is awful that it might take something, another tragedy to push it forward. But if it does, that is something and it will save lives, there's no question. And again, look, that is the ninth death this year, the third in Florida, and if we average about forty a year, Look, we need to get that going because it will save lives. That will make a difference.

00:23:42
Speaker 1: Robes, think about this one case, he drove to work, he opened his car door and there would have been a bing bing bing, bing bing bing, checked the back seat.

00:23:53
Speaker 2: Oh, can you imagine that moment if you realized you were about to do something and you were stopped because of technology.

00:24:00
Speaker 1: Exactly what these things do every time we put a you can put your person in the back seat sometimes and it'll say hey because it knows the door was opened or there's some weight back there.

00:24:09
Speaker 2: Thing.

00:24:09
Speaker 1: Thing he would have gotten the alert. Damn, folks, just it's a good time for this reminder. It's going to be an awful and really dangerous and robes are even predicting a deadly few days of weather with the fourth of July coming in with two thirds of the country under this awful, awful heat advisory. So be safe, be careful, and check the backseat.

00:24:33
Speaker 2: Yes, always a good reminder and we always appreciate you listening to us. Everyone on AMI Robach alongside TJ. Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.