If a Mother leaves her child in a car during hot weather and the child dies. What should be done?

Question

What should be done with the mother? The child is dead, cooked in the car. There have been at least four children killed in this manner in the greater Ohio in the past year and a half. What can we do to stop this. The government will not prosecute these women.

Answer 1

I think they should at least be charged with neglect. Sadly they usually aren't.

If you're worried about your grandchild, you can place an anonymous complaint with child services (DHS) and let them know that you're worried the mother is unaware, or uncaring that she is endangering the life of her child.  They have to follow up on all calls, so if you tell them specifically what the issue is they'll likely mention it to her, and if they get several complaints about it she may be asked to attend a parenting seminar.  If the problem still persists she may be deemed unfit to be a parent.

Answer 2

Seems to me you need to act locally, not globally, to clean up the District Attorneys Office and the Prosecutors Office.  Stop complaining on Yahoo! Answers and get busy politically.

Answer 3

Children are property of their parents - they don't get rights until they are 18...

In ancient Rome, a parent could do whatever they wanted with their children - even kill them... its just now we PRETEND to be all ethical...

Answer 4

The mother should be punished severely. She may not have directly been killing the child, in a sense of it being murder, but her actions still resulted in the death.

I'd say they should be punished by atleast twenty five years in prison. Murder is murder.

Answer 5

if the law prosecute them , will that stop the hurting that we be feeling?or will the child come back to life. but what i won,t to know is this, how do the mother feel on the in side knowing that she kill her child .that why i thank that god handier thing like that  but what every the law or the land say ,that what it,s be for now.   but in the end i know  god will deal with it,s      just keeping it,s real.

Answer 6

Yeah.Well I think that they should be locked in a car and they should die of a heatstroke and feel the pain you made them feel. I don't GET how people can live with doing that to their children. Whether you're running into a gas station to prepay or get cigarettes or get quarters. Whatever. There is no excuse and it isn't worth losing your kid. Just like abortion, I think people who get them should get all their bones broken and sucked up in a vacuum when they die.

Answer 7

Why are you worried about your grandchild?  You know there have been grandparents who accidentally did the same thing.   I have never left my children in the car during hot weather.  These parents are irresponsible people.  Is the parent of your grandchild irresponsible?  If not don't worry about it.  How can parents do this?  In all my years this is one of the most ridiculous things for a parent to do.  The mothers should be left in a hot car.  I will leave the rest up to your imagination.  I love my grandchildren but I do not worry about their parents doing something so idiotic.  If you are that worried talk to the mother or get the child yourself.

Answer 8

I think the mother should be locked in a car in the hottest weather ever, and let them fry to death. No paying for them to be in prison, and alot worse than the electric chair.

Answer 9

They have murdered their child. They should be charged with murder. I know it is unintentional, so maybe it should be knocked back to manslaughter, but they have still taken the life of their child. They need to be punished

Answer 10

Call child services and prosecute the mother for child neglect and involuntary manslaughter.  The government should prosecute these people cause it shows how irresponsible they are as parents, they should know better than that.  This is just as bad as the Andrea Yates case.

Answer 11

I don't have kids, however I do have a dog.   I would never leave my dog in the car alone for more than 45 seconds; because I love my dog.   So I have little understanding for people who leave their own CHILDREN in the car alone for any length of time.  

Answer 12

They need to prosecute the mother,

it's pretty much blatant child abuse.

I don't care if it's not convenient to take the kid inside with you, i don't care if you're just going in and out to get one or two things it's just not safe.

Even putting the heat issue aside, there is so much potential for that child to get hurt within MINUTES of being left unattended in a car.

Answer 13

Well as a mother of 3 I think if she is that irresponsible (she didn't need kids to start with) then she should be charged with murder.

Answer 14

What?  At the very least the mother should go to prison for involuntary manslaughter.  If you left your dog in the car and it died, you would get a citation for animal cruelty, why would babies be less significant?  

Answer 15

They should be charged....involuntary mansalughter, or something, along with gross negligence.  Call and talk to the State's Attorney.

Answer 16

I once stood by a mini van in a walmart parking lot for 20 minutes because there was a baby inside alone.  He couldn't have been over 6 months.  I called the cops on my cell, but before they showed up the "mother" came out.  I asked her about it, and she started screaming and yelling at me.  By this time it had been close to 40 minutes that the baby was in the car.

She left, I wrote down the license plate and waited for the police.  When they finally arrived they told me that they could do nothing because they hadn't witnessed it.

Maybe if there were stricter laws on the subject something could be done.  Just hopefully people will look out for and try to protect others children, because many don't care for their own.  Unfortunately there isn't much the law can do at the moment, and it is very unfortunate because the only ones suffering are the children.

Answer 17

Does the mother do this? leave the child in a car unattended? If so, tell her that you will report this action to the police if she leaves the child in the car no matter if it is for a short time.

I don't think these women or men are prosecuted because it was not intentional and it is figures that the parent is suffering already. it's a shame that in this society that people are so over-burdened with life and making a living that they actually forget that a child is in the car, It should be mandatory that a buzzer goes off if anyone is in the back seat and it would not reset until that person is removed.  

Answer 18

Well I have never been in the experience of someone I knew leaving their child in a car. I will pray for you though and your grandchild. What I would do is call SRS, tell them your situation and they should be able to do something. Also I would contact a lawyer to see if you could adopt the child or have her looked into by the police and by SRS as well. Put the child first, I know you would probably hate to see them be away from their parents but it would be in the best interest of the child. I hope that might have helped and I will pray for you.

Answer 19

They SHOULD prosecute them, at the least that is negligence and they should serve prison time for the death of a child that is caused by negligence. I just don't understand HOW THE h**l this happens!! Yeah, I don't know , I kind of think that they should be prosecuted, and then, on the other hand, like, just think about the amount of guilt you would suffer if you had made the same mistake. Maybe that is punishment enough. If  I was ever that retarded and make a mistake like that, I would hang myself.

Answer 20

Send the mother to JAIL! Do a strike if they don't approve make people sign to make the government know that they all agree to send the mother to jail! I mean why the h**l would a mother leave her FRIGGIN INFANT OR CHILD in the car? They should have common sense to not leave their child in the car! It's very annoying that people don't have common sense!  

Answer 21

Well first if you have reason to worry that your daughter would do this then you should really talk to her... but second...i'm not sure you could charge a mother with anything more than neglect, child endangerment or man slaughter... as I doubt the mother was intentionally leaving her child int he car to die... but I do agree that children shouldn't be left in the car for long periods of time. I am guilty of leaving mine in the car to run to the ATM, into the post office to check my mail or running into the store, but they aren't left in the car for more than like 5 minutes max.

Answer 22

how could you not prosecute them?  its negligence.  they should be put to death the same way.  how could that possibly ever be considered an accident???  who would leave a child in a car ever, in any weather?

Answer 23

WOW!!! That is AWFUL.

You need to call your Governor, senator and as far up as you can go. If you are passionate enough about it, then you should start a petition to make a law against this.  

Answer 24

It's not right to perscute those women for it.

If they did it so it would kill them, that is something different.

I am sorry, but bad accidents happen all the time.  It's not like the woman wanted to kill her child.  Can you imagine the disappointment she faces when realizing, "I just killed my child."

Shock, embarrassment, shame, broken hearted.

Answer 25

They should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, for negligent homicide and child abuse resulting in death.  That's what happens to idiots who do that in Arizona, and in Utah....well, sometimes, in Utah, sometimes they make up excuses like "the mother was distracted by having to work a job..." (This was what a judge actually said when he sentenced a woman to less than a year's probation for killing her child).

Answer 26

They were not prosecuted?  We have had that happen here in southeast Michigan and I know that the women were charged.  One woman left her child in a car while she went into a casino and gambled.  Another left her child in the back of a hatchback while her and her boyfriend had a picnic down by a river.  Both of the children died.  Both of the mothers were charged and sent to prison.  

Why are you worried about your grandchild?  If you feel that your son or daughter is not taking care of your grandchild properly, you need to call Child Protective Services and have them investigate and make sure that the child is being cared for properly.  

Answer 27

you got grandchildren? You need to update your avatar.

as far as these women , I don't know. My mom left me in the car when I was a kid, but she had the common sense to crack the windows.  

Answer 28

it depends on the circumstance.  In some cases it has happened purely by accident.  In others it was negligence and people HAVE been prosecuted for it.

Answer 29

hi eagle,

firstly why do you think the mother of your grandchild would do this?

This is a kind of tragedy that happens around the world.. It's NOT JUST the mothers though that this can happen too. And maybe there needs to be a nation wide( in each nation) television, radio and Pop-up internet ads warning people of how this CAN occur .. just a few minutes is enough to do it.   :(

Answer 30

This may not comfort you, but when it happens in Australia, the people responsible are prosecuted an usually get long jail terms.

Answer 31

In Australia they would be sentenced for Murder....not 1st Degree though unless it's proven that it was pre-meditated...The least they would get would be manslaughter...

This sickens me....this happens in Aus too...there was a lady who lost two kids coz she left them in the car while she was at work....she felt she had no other choice...Come on!! Also there was a case where the lady was gambling in the casino. Interestingly enough, I have never heard of a man doing it...