Hot Car Deaths -- Leave kids in the car and go shopping...

[Duchess]

Prosecutors in Utah will not seek criminal charges against the woman whose 11-month-daughter died after being left in her car in 90-degree heat for hours.

Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said going after April Suwyn for the Aug. 1 death of little Skyah 'is not in the interest of justice,' KSTU reported.

'Because the purpose of the criminal justice system is to penalize a conscious wrongdoer, justice will not be served prosecuting April Suwyn, because she was not blameworthy of mind,' Belnap wrote, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

'The evidence shows that April was a loving, thoughtful caregiver who was operating under lack of sleep, changed routine, and stress.'

Baby Skyah was just one week short of her first birthday when Suwyn broke her normal routine and brought her beloved daughter along in the car to drop off her two young sons with a babysitter.

But the urgent need to use the restroom meant April parked her car and rushed back into her home, leaving Skyah behind in the hot parked car.

It was only when she went back to the car around 1pm that she noticed her grave mistake.

Paramedics life-flighted Skyah in extremely critical condition to Dixie Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.

Neither April nor her husband Micah have made statements regarding their only daughter's death, but Suwyn's sister Aimee Wright said the tragedy was an accident.

Prosecutors agreed.

'Rather than abandoning Skyah, [Suwyn] acted under the erroneous belief that Skyah was napping safely in her bedroom crib,' Belnap wrote.

The prosecutor added, 'an unconscious lapse of awareness is substantially different than a conscious decision to leave a baby in a car.'



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