Foster father won’t be prosecuted in Phoenix hot car death
Jan 7, 2020, 2:25 PM
(Facebook Photo/Child Safety Tech)
PHOENIX – The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said Tuesday it won’t prosecute the foster father of a baby girl who died after he left her in a vehicle last year in Phoenix.
The 4-month-old girl was found dead Oct. 1 at the Washington Elementary School District Service Center in the personal vehicle of her 56-year-old foster father, a district administrator who worked there.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office initially decided against pressing charges last month but held off on a final decision so it could review unspecified new evidence provided by the girl’s next of kin.
No other details about the MCAO decision were provided.
According to police, the man had dropped off several kids at daycare before going to work in the morning. He later left the service center on 39th Avenue north of Cactus Road to pick up the baby and go to an appointment.
He returned to work after the appointment and left the girl in her car seat, police said.
The high temperature in Phoenix was around 90 degrees that day. It’s unknown what the temperature was inside the vehicle.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the inside of a car can heat up to 120 degrees in 30 minutes even when the outside temperature is 85 degrees.
According to KidsAndCars.org, the girl was among four Arizona children who died in hot cars in 2019.
One of them, a 3-year-old girl, died Sept. 3 after her father left her outside their Gilbert home on a day it reached 109 degrees. Gilbert police arrested the father in December and referred the case to the county attorney. MCAO spokeswoman Jennifer Liewer said the case is currently under review.
After that incident, Dawn Peabody of KidsAndCars.org told KTAR News 92.3 FM that most hot car deaths are accidents, not cases where the caretaker purposely left a child in the car without understanding the danger.
Peabody and other advocates are pushing for federal legislation to make back seat sensor alarm technology mandatory in all new vehicles.