BREAKING CNN: Mother leaves daughter, 1, son, 4, in hot car, dead

[Subdivisions]

Just broke on CNN. S. Carolina, north of Charleston. Apparently, the mother had left the toddlers in her car all day while she worked. A domestic disturbance broke out at her home later in the evening and police were called and the babies were discovered in plastic bags under a sink in the woman's home. She is currently being evaluated in a local hospital. The temperature in the area was 90° but temperatures inside a car with the windows up can reach 130°-140°

[CottonBear]

1. Tragic.

I wonder if the mother had drug or mental illness problem that played a part in this tragedy. :(

[dmallind]

4. Possibly

Or maybe she is just a vicious selfish dumbass. Some people just are.

[havocmom]

8. Or a dumbass who didn't understand that hot cars kill

Perhaps desperate about daycare and ignorant of the dangers of a hot car.

[Subdivisions]

13. Daycare is definately going to be found to be an issue here, though

it does not excuse ignorance about what can happen when children are left in a car in the hot summer season.

[havocmom]

26. No it does not excuse anything, but as economy sinks and people fear losing jobs

look for more problems. If workers don't make enough to live, pay child care, they have to rely on other, more precarious means. That will sometimes let them down and an inconvenience can turn to tragedy all too quickly.

Once again, the economy can have impact on areas most just don't consider. The rich get richer, the working class and working poor can end up worse than just poor.

[dmallind]

15. Sure possible too

Of course that kind of includes selfish at least. I mean leaving kids that age for that long ANYWHERE isn't going to win parent of the year.

At this point it's all speculation. She could have expected a cousin to show up in ten minutes on a prearranged schedule or something, or she could have maliciously decided to kill her kids by hyperthermia. Dunno.

[danalytical]

21. Everybody knows leaving a one year old alone

In a car all day is dangerous. Even if it isn't 90 degrees.

[havocmom]

25. No, everybody doesn't know that. Amazing how foolish lots of people are

Lots of bright people make the mistake too. It is horrible how little attention people pay to the conditions and that old cause/effect equation.

[Beelzebud]

2. Sometimes I just wish there was a different PLANET to move to...

[sammythecat]

24. I know what you're saying.

Sometimes it just seems hopeless, doesn't it?

[iconoclastic cat]

3. I seriously wonder how many of these cases are really murder.

I mean, how could you not know that this could kill your kids?

[slackmaster]

6. Extreme stupidity sometimes allows people to do extremely stupid things

You know how dumb the average person is, right?

Half of them are dumber than that.

[librechik]

7. she is obviously mentally ill. Not murder. We need better services in this country

instead of more wars.

Why don't we have daycare everywhere? And decent mental health care? Half of these cases seem to be poor women forced to bring their kids to work with them. That is a disgrace. She was in a desparate situation, and I blame the Republican obstructionists who shit their little britches over any government plan that doesn't enrich their friends and shackle the poor. They've been in charge since LBJs Great Society--and have spent that whole time doing everything they could to tear it down and lord over the ruins.

[Subdivisions]

10. She is currently being mentally evaluated but it's because

when the police were called to her home and the deaths discovered, the mother was said to be heard screaming that she wanted to kill herself.

Since she had the children at work, maybe she was unable to afford daycare and this was, as far as she was concerned, the only answer - to take the children to work with her. A problem like lack of daycare is enough to stress anyone, but I don't know if it's enough to forget what can happen when children are left in a car in the hot summer sun.

[iconoclastic cat]

12. Well, yeah, of course.

But what are the chances of that happening?

[librechik]

18. I know. It even makes ME want to kill myself.

Like someone said earlier, Is there another PLANET I can move to?

I've been where she was. But I never would endanger my little ones. It's hard to understand without the presence of severe mental illness or retardation or maybe an extraordinarily abusive situation at home. There is also a shocking lack of parental education in this country. I'm mortified that we have abandoned all our attempts to improve on America and sunk down to being a colony of ignorant peasants owned by China, in effect.

[krispos42]

5. Was a casino involved?

This happened a few times in Connecticut after the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos opened up.

The kids weren't 'forgotten', it was like "Okay, kids, I've cracked a window and I'll be back in an hour". And then the parents was gone for like 4 or 8 hours.

[iconoclastic cat]

9. Those parents should send the kids into the casino and stay in the car themselves. nt

[Enrique]

11. we've got to shift more to education and prevention

it's all the rage to play up the punitive solutions to this, but as "bad" as we might decide this woman to be, maybe she simply didn't know her kids could die this way. Suppose something like warning labels on the windows (similar to "objects are closer than they appear" on mirrors). Then the woman could be just as "bad" but her kids would be alive, and there would be no story and her "badness" would be none of our concern.

[Subdivisions]

14. And daycare for those who cannot afford it. :-/ n/t

[peace13]

17. Birth control for those who can not afford it!

If it lives and breathes it's a 24 hour a day problem.

[peace13]

16. In the back of my brain I heard a morning show host suggest

putting a teddy bear in the front seat to remind you that your kid is in the car. My god, have we come that far. When my son was an infant he was my primary focus. What have we become? If there is any question that a child may be forgotten, the front air bag should be disabled and the child moved up front. I can not believe that we are educating people on how to remember that their kids are in the car. Hello Darwin... can you help us with this one!

[Bassic]

19. God , sometimes I wish these things never made the news

:cry:

[marions ghost]

20. The mother was hopelessly negligent

but I doubt she wanted to kill her children. I do understand how someone could leave kids in a car out of desperation. Haven't you noticed the number of kids now hanging around with their Moms at some lower-level jobs...restaurants, independent shops, service occupations. I've even seen them staying ALL DAY in ticket-taking booths with a parent, where I often park. Look at the social problem...as well as the stupidity in the behavior of the parent.

Back when it was safer to leave any kids in a car, my mother would leave us to wait for her while shopping for groceries & such. She had a full-time job and often couldn't pay sitters while she did errands. But she didn't do this when we were too young to open windows or get out of the car if she stayed too long. And if we had to wait too long, she'd make sure we had drinks or ice cream at least.

Some people are just not too bright. Maybe this woman was messed up somehow. But she is most likely not a murderer. This tragedy happens to more intelligent people who know better, but who simply forget. None of these parents will never forgive themselves.

To everybody and nobody in particular: Please try to have some compassion before pointing fingers and meting out harsh judgments.

[porphyrian]

22. That's horrible. Is the Gonzoles impeachment thing on yet? - n/t

[distantearlywarning]

23. She was probably FAT.

Because everyone knows that FAT mothers are much worse parents than skinny mothers. A skinny mother would certainly not have left her children in the hot car. (Yes, I'm still mad about that "other thread" and all the bigots who participated in it this morning...)

:sarcasm:

In all seriousness, I wonder why we still have stories like this every summer. Maybe a new public education program about the dangers of leaving pets and children in hot cars is in order?

[acmavm]

27. WOW! What other thread?

[iamthebandfanman]

28. whats up with plastic bags and putting things under sinks?

see subject ^