Alabama man charged after toddler left in hot car dies
An average of 39 children die in hot car-related incidents each
year in US
A south Alabama man has been arrested on
reckless murder charges after his 2-year-old child died Monday
after being left in a hot car, police said.
The Atmore
Police Department told news outlets the man went to pick up the
toddler from daycare on Monday afternoon but was told the child
had not been dropped off that morning. The father then
discovered the child in the backseat of the vehicle and rushed
to the hospital, police told news outlets in a press release.
Court records show that Shawn Rounsavall faces a charge of
reckless murder, which Alabama law defines as causing the death
of another person by acting with "extreme indifference to human
life" and recklessly engaging in conduct "which creates a grave
risk of death to a person." Available court records did not show
if Rounsavall has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Temperatures in south Alabama neared 80 degrees on Monday,
according to the National Weather Service.
According to
the nonprofit child safety organization Kids and Car Safety, an
average of 39 children die each year in a hot car-related death
in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration said there have been more than 900 deaths since
1998, and the majority happen because someone forgets a child in
a car.
“Any time there’s a loss of a child, it’s just a very tragic event no
matter if it’s by natural means or by accident or by some other means,” he
said.