‘IT WAS NEGLECT’
Toddler died when parents forgot they’d left him in roasting 90F car and found him when they woke up at 3pm the next day
TWO parents face manslaughter charges after cops found their toddler, three, dead inside a boiling car when Alabama hit 93F.
Dakota Fowler, 20, and Brandi Burks, 22, went to bed at midnight on Saturday, and discovered him unresponsive in their vehicle 15 hours later, Franklin County said.
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Bentley Fowler was declared dead in the small northwest town of Hodges on Sunday at about 4 pm on Sunday, said the Franklin County sheriff’s office.
Local media reported that temperatures reached 93F (34C) on August 9.
According to , if it’s 93F (34C) outside, the temperature inside a vehicle builds to nearly 136F (60C) within 60 minutes.
The boys' parents were charged with manslaughter and could face 20 years in prison if found guilty, reports .
The sheriff told the website he believed Bentley had died as a result of being left in a hot car, but a post-mortem at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences will establish the cause of death.
BED AT MIDNIGHT
Officials said the parents told them they last saw the child around midnight on Saturday when they allegedly put the toddler to bed.
His parents told investigators they couldn’t find the boy when they woke up on Sunday afternoon, and later discovered him inside the hot vehicle at 3pm.
Paramedics were called to the family home, but were unable to resuscitate the child.
He was declared dead at 4pm, according to the Franklin County sheriff’s office.
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County Sheriff Shannon Oliver told Al.com he believes that Bentley's death was a tragic accident.
He said: “I don’t feel there was any intent there, I think it was neglect, which sadly cost the little guy’s life.
“It’s just a sad situation all around - these types of cases are really hard for everybody.”
reports that the past two years were the worst years in history for child hot car deaths, with about 110 children perishing in vehicles across the US.
Detection technology is needed immediately to curtail this growing problem, the charity says.
The Hot Cars Act passed the full House on July 1, 2020 as part of the Moving Forward Act.
This bill would require available, affordable technology to detect the presence of a child inside a vehicle, says KidsAndCars.
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Last year, the auto industry issued a voluntary agreement to add a reminder alert for drivers to check the back seat of vehicles by 2025.
However, the charity says "this type of technology will not address fatalities where children got into vehicles on their own and became trapped inside."
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