Father charged with murder in case of infant left in car

[Monkeyleg]

I was at the gym last night and, when the movie I was watching ended, CNN had a news story about a father in Georgia who was being charged with murder in the death of his baby son, who he'd left in a hot car for hours. The story can be found here: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/georgia-man-charged-murder-after-leaving-baby-hot-car-n135696

The coverage of the story was incredibly in-depth. They had a reporter at the scene who recreated the father's movements of that day, and drove the route the father took from Chik-Fil-A to a shopping center to his workplace. They had already put nearly half an hour into the story when I finished my workout and left.

What's interesting to me is not this story, but the coverage. To the best of my knowledge, CNN never gave this kind of coverage to Benghazi. I don't think they gave it this much time. They certainly didn't do any re-creations of anything.

Too bad the father hadn't worked for the Obama administration. He would have walked.

[roo_ster]

I was at the gym last night and, when the movie I was watching ended, CNN had a news story about a father in Georgia who was being charged with murder in the death of his baby son, who he'd left in a hot car for hours. The story can be found here: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/georgia-man-charged-murder-after-leaving-baby-hot-car-n135696

The coverage of the story was incredibly in-depth. They had a reporter at the scene who recreated the father's movements of that day, and drove the route the father took from Chik-Fil-A to a shopping center to his workplace. They had already put nearly half an hour into the story when I finished my workout and left.

What's interesting to me is not this story, but the coverage. (1) To the best of my knowledge, CNN never gave this kind of coverage to Benghazi. I don't think they gave it this much time. They certainly didn't do any re-creations of anything.

(2)Too bad the father hadn't worked for the Obama administration. He would have walked.

(1) No threat to BHO and they get to beat on a man.  Win-win.

(2) Laws are for little people.

Anyways, toddler/infant deaths like these are an utterly predictable result of mandating kiddo car seats.  Same as the deaths caused by airbags to children in the front passenger seat and small women in either front seat.  Too many folk are unable to think one step beyond the immediate effect to suss out unintended consequences.

[Monkeyleg]

This one looks intentional, but your BHO observation is spot on.

[dogmush]

Anyways, toddler/infant deaths like these are an utterly predictable result of mandating kiddo car seats.  Same as the deaths caused by airbags to children in the front passenger seat and small women in either front seat.  Too many folk are unable to think one step beyond the immediate effect to suss out unintended consequences.

Befuddled by this.

Is it your contention that parents who would otherwise bring their kids with them look at the kid all strapped in the carseat and say "*expletive deleted*ck it, that one buckle is too annoying".

In the admittedly small sample size of my friends with kids that I drive with, the infant car seats they use actually unhook from a base in the car and click into a stroller base.  So the car seat would seam to me to make it easier to bring the kid.  (one red button)

This is far from my area of expertise, but why do you say that car seats increase leaving kids in the car?

[roo_ster]

Befuddled by this.

Is it your contention that parents who would otherwise bring their kids with them look at the kid all strapped in the carseat and say "*expletive deleted* it, that one buckle is too annoying".

In the admittedly small sample size of my friends with kids that I drive with, the infant car seats they use actually unhook from a base in the car and click into a stroller base.  So the car seat would seam to me to make it easier to bring the kid.  (one red button)

This is far from my area of expertise, but why do you say that car seats increase leaving kids in the car?

Most car seat directions instruct and many state laws mandate that kiddo car seats reside in the back seat.  Not in the front seat means out of sight, out of sight means out of mind to many folk.

Even if unstrapped kiddo is in the back seat, most will crawl about, making noise and bop up & down in & out of the LOS of the rear view mirror.  That will not happen if kiddo is strapped into a car seat.  Also, kiddo is more likely to fall asleep and make no noise due to boredom and lack of stimulation when strapped in.

Thus, reduced opportunity for visual and audible reminders that a child is in the auto will result in more kid-gets-baked-in-car incidents.

There is no such thing as a free lunch or an unintended consequence-free mandate.

[Balog]

Most car seat directions instruct and many state laws mandate that kiddo car seats reside in the back seat.  Not in the front seat means out of sight, out of sight means out of mind to many folk.

Even if unstrapped kiddo is in the back seat, most will crawl about, making noise and bop up & down in & out of the LOS of the rear view mirror.  That will not happen if kiddo is strapped into a car seat.  Also, kiddo is more likely to fall asleep and make no noise due to boredom and lack of stimulation when strapped in.

Thus, reduced opportunity for visual and audible reminders that a child is in the auto will result in more kid-gets-baked-in-car incidents.

There is no such thing as a free lunch or an unintended consequence-free mandate.

Is it your contention that the number of heat related deaths from kids left in hot cars is => the number who would die if unsecured?

[roo_ster]

Is it your contention that the number of heat related deaths from kids left in hot cars is => the number who would die if unsecured?

Nope.  Just that it is an easily foreseeable consequence.  Those who push for making kiddo car seats mandatory should have it shoved in their faces at every opportunity.

Were I in charge, I would keep the use of car safety seats 100% voluntary.
1. Those who do so of their own accord are probably less likely to leave a kiddo to die horribly from cooking in a hot car.
2. Kiddo car seat laws are yet another law that tends to be enforced more on solid citizen types than illegals or the underclass.
3. Laws make criminals out of folks whose autos can not accommodate the seats and laws.
4. The laws, when combined with "no kids in the front seat" laws, make one choose between maximizing kiddo safety and following the law.

[MechAg94]

Befuddled by this.

Is it your contention that parents who would otherwise bring their kids with them look at the kid all strapped in the carseat and say "*expletive deleted* it, that one buckle is too annoying".

In the admittedly small sample size of my friends with kids that I drive with, the infant car seats they use actually unhook from a base in the car and click into a stroller base.  So the car seat would seam to me to make it easier to bring the kid.  (one red button)

This is far from my area of expertise, but why do you say that car seats increase leaving kids in the car?

Many years back (the kid should be out of college now), I know a guy who stopped by the school to drop something off.  He thought he was just running in and running out.  Left the kid in the car seat.  I think he rolled the windows down a little, can't remember.  He got distracted by someone and ended up being 10 or 15 minutes before remembering in horror.  The kid was okay, just a little overheated.  The father is one of the nicest, most responsible guys I have known, but it still happened to him.  Thankfully, it was a lesson learned and not a trajedy.  Just saying, not all these people are dead beat parents. 

I am curious what the estimated lives saved by car seats compares to the number of these deaths or similar issues.  Add the knowledge that many if not most would use car seats most of the time anyway.

[MechAg94]

The thing I was surprised to learn is that not only are car seats mandatory, but kids have to be in the back seat or in some sort of booster seat until they are 10 or 12 years old.  IMO, that is overkill.

Wouldn't it be much easier to ask car makers to improve the seat restraint systems to accomodate young kids?

[dogmush]

The thing I was surprised to learn is that not only are car seats mandatory, but kids have to be in the back seat or in some sort of booster seat until they are 10 or 12 years old.  IMO, that is overkill.

Wouldn't it be much easier to ask car makers to improve the seat restraint systems to accomodate young kids?

SInce I don't know crap about kids, I've been googleing.

http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/childsafety_laws.html

In most states the booster seat thing is not law, but it's recomended by all the child safety.org type places.  A quick scan of the laws shows that 6-8* YO is the normal transition to seatbelt age.  Some states have height and weight limits thrown in.

*Kids don't have ID.  If you have a tall 7YO, and tell Officer ticket writer that he's 8.5 YO, what happens?

[onions!]

The thing I was surprised to learn is that not only are car seats mandatory, but kids have to be in the back seat or in some sort of booster seat until they are 10 or 12 years old.  IMO, that is overkill.

Wouldn't it be much easier to ask car makers to improve the seat restraint systems to accomodate young kids?

Manufacturers already provide anchor kits to restrain child seats,have adjustable shoulder harness attatchment points for shorter riders,and some offer fold down seat inserts that can be used as a booster seat.Those really long seatbelts used now aren't just for fat people either.They are designing seats that are going to be used in a billion different but similar ways.

I think the car manufacturers have done a good job designing vehicles that accommodate passengers from 10-400+ pounds.

[brimic]

Its big news because its was a white guy.

This sort of crap happens in the ghetto all the time an rarely makes the news, it even happens there with day care buses! Don't even get me started on 'co-sleeping' deaths, where the 'parent' is charged with nothing.

I'm not making excuses for the guy, I can't think of any non-narcotic indused possibility about how a father would leave his infant in a car.

[KD5NRH]

He got distracted by someone and ended up being 10 or 15 minutes before remembering in horror.

I've stopped going to Allsups after too many times of running in to prepay and/or grab a soda and getting stuck for 10 minutes or more because one employee is going over paperwork with a vendor and the other is rearranging deli items. 

[brimic]

The thing I was surprised to learn is that not only are car seats mandatory, but kids have to be in the back seat or in some sort of booster seat until they are 10 or 12 years old.  IMO, that is overkill.

Wouldn't it be much easier to ask car makers to improve the seat restraint systems to accomodate young kids?

Eh, it isn't that big of a thing. Booster seats with built in cup holders are a really good thing if just for the cupholders until the kids turn 8 or so.
In my state, I believe its 8yo or 80lbs, both of my kids are past that stage. A lot of cars now have sensors in the passenger seat to turn the airbag on or off depending on the weight of the person sitting there.

[CypherNinja]

To the best of my knowledge, CNN never gave this kind of coverage to Benghazi.

Didn't they? I seem to remember a lot. It just stopped as soon as the "because movie" line stopped flying.

[Hawkmoon]

Most car seat directions instruct and many state laws mandate that kiddo car seats reside in the back seat.  Not in the front seat means out of sight, out of sight means out of mind to many folk.

Even if unstrapped kiddo is in the back seat, most will crawl about, making noise and bop up & down in & out of the LOS of the rear view mirror.  That will not happen if kiddo is strapped into a car seat.  Also, kiddo is more likely to fall asleep and make no noise due to boredom and lack of stimulation when strapped in.

Thus, reduced opportunity for visual and audible reminders that a child is in the auto will result in more kid-gets-baked-in-car incidents.

Your points are valid, but what I've gotten out of the reports I have seen is that the father routinely took the child with him to work, where they have a child care facility. The way the mind works, it's difficult for me to imagine that he would slip out of routine. I know when I go to work in the morning, pretty much everything is running on autopilot until I'm in the office and starting to read e-mails. Taking the kid in to child care should have been something he would do without even thinking about it.

[Fitz]

They seized his computers and whatnot because he was searching how long it would take.


This was not unintentional.

[Boomhauer]

They seized his computers and whatnot because he was searching how long it would take.


This was not unintentional.

What I heard is that the mother *expletive deleted*er went back to his car midday for something and "did not notice the child"...methinks he went back to see if the kid was dead yet...

http://fox4kc.com/2014/06/25/warrant-ga-man-returned-to-car-with-son-still-strapped-in-carseat/

[Ned Hamford]

I am curious as to the searching of the guy's google history.  Seems like a fishing expedition to me; tho I can easily imagine from looking at that gormless mug shot plastered everywhere he said something stupid to someone.  Facts unknown and possibly unknowable; a perfect state for our modern news/entertainment businesses.  I agree with the OP, circumstance well fit for man on the street speculation and water cooler conversation far safer for the establishment than anything of real substance.   

[Fitz]

From what I understand, elements of his story not lining up lead to them doing the digging on the computer and whatnot.

The average nincompoop doesn't think about their computer as a potential source of evidence. i've seen people search ALL KINDS of *expletive deleted*it and do all kinds of shady things, then be genuinely surprised when caught.

[Hawkmoon]

From what I understand, elements of his story not lining up lead to them doing the digging on the computer and whatnot.

The average nincompoop doesn't think about their computer as a potential source of evidence. i've seen people search ALL KINDS of *expletive deleted* and do all kinds of shady things, then be genuinely surprised when caught.

So you're saying that "Delete History" is your friend?

[Fitz]

So you're saying that "Delete History" is your friend?

Actually, I'm saying that planning illegal activities via computer is your enemy

The average person is incapable of adequately covering their tracks

[Boomhauer]

So you're saying that "Delete History" is your friend?

First rule of computertatin'...Delete does not actually Delete.

[Monkeyleg]

If I were going to do something illegal, I wouldn't use my home computer to research. I'd go to Kinko's or a library.

[cordex]

If I were going to do something illegal, I wouldn't use my home computer to research. I'd go to Kinko's or a library.

Bad idea, Monkeyleg.