This is that time of year where we, and other news outlets, remind you of the fatal consequences that occur when you leave your kids or pets in hot cars. But two Ohio parents now face charges after their baby died during a hot drive through Oklahoma.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that husband and wife Angela Randolph, 26, and Christopher Randolph, 28, now face charges of child neglect after their 23-day-old daughter died in the back of a car running without air conditioning on a hot day.
The newspaper says the parents were driving in a car packed with their belongings, no working A/C and only one window rolled down from Ohio to Oklahoma last week.
When they stopped at a convenience store in Ardmore, Oklahoma just north of the Texas border, they noticed their baby daughter Hannah wasn't breathing in the back seat. At a 911 dispatcher's urging they tried CPR, but the girl was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a hospital.
Authorities say they believe the girl died of heat exposure from the hot car — that day, temperatures were hovering around 100 degrees, the newspaper reports. The Randolphs were arrested a few days later and charged with child neglect. Sadly, they were just 30 miles away from their destination in Ringling, Oklahoma, where they planned to start a new life with family.
It's a sad and horrible case for sure, and it's an odd twist on the usual situation where the baby is left in the hot car. It just goes to show that an improperly-cooled moving car is just as bad as one left sitting in the sun.
We'll have to see how a jury handles this one.
Photo credit Carter County Detention Center
Hat tip to Steph
Parents Charged After Baby Dies In Hot Moving Car With No A/C