07-04-2014, 06:10 PM
Change in Routine Leads to Forgotten Child Fatality
![[Image: 20k57ki.jpg]](http://i60.tinypic.com/20k57ki.jpg)
ROCKLEDGE, Fla. — Steven Darnell Lillie, 31, was arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter a week after his 9-month-old daughter, Anna Marie Lillie (RIP), died when he forgot to drop her off at her grandmother's house before he went to work.
"He's been cooperative the whole time, and he handled the arrest as well as it could be handled. He was emotional," said Lt. Donna Seyferth, a spokeswoman for the Rockledge Police Department.
Anna Marie spent close to four hours in her car seat in the back seat of her father's truck. She succumbed to heat stroke before Lillie realized the problem when he received a call from a family member asking about the baby. The child's core body temperature was more than 109 degrees when she arrived at the hospital, police said.
Children are more susceptible than adults to heatstroke, when body's internal temperature rises to 104 degrees. And unless any victims of heatstroke are cooled down quickly, they can die.
"We investigated the case and applied the most appropriate charges. And we did step back and allow the family a chance to grieve," Seyferth said. "But it's a fine line to walk, and ultimately, you had a child die. The rest will be up to a jury."
Lillie had told police that he forgot to check the backseat of his truck before he went inside the offices of the Fraternal Order of Police where he worked as a telephone solicitor.
Lillie told police he was going to drop off his colleague at work before dropping off his child and expected to have to unlock the door for his colleague.
But the door to the office in a strip mall was open. He walked in, saw paperwork on his desk, sat down and focused on his job.
Because the door was unlocked when he arrived, Lillie told police thought he already had dropped off his child and went about his normal routine until the 4:45 p.m. phone call.
In about half of the heatstroke cases, a parent or responsible party is charged in connection with a child's death, said Amber Rollins, director and volunteer manager of KidsAndCars.org. The nonprofit child safety organization monitors news sites and police reports involving children and vehicle accidents.
The group has more difficulty following a case to its conclusion, but in almost 500 incidents where their volunteers were able to determine the outcome about a third resulted in convictions.
"She's been in the car for hours, and I absolutely forgot about her," Lillie said in a 9-1-1 call. "She's not alive."
Anna Marie was the 12th death in the United States so far this year of a child who succumbed to heat stroke in a vehicle, according to KidsAndCars.org.
A 22-month-old boy, Cooper Harris, died that Wednesday in Atlanta in the back seat of his father's sport utility vehicle, becoming the 13th death. (Mock thread on that case here: http://mockforums.net/showthread.php?tid=11257)
The National Safety Council recommends that parents leave something in the back seat of their vehicle that they need for work or their errands, such as a briefcase, purse or cellphone, to serve as a reminder of a child in a car seat. KidsAndCars.org suggests keeping a stuffed animal in a child's car seat to put in the front passenger seat as a reminder when a parent is transporting the baby.
The number of deaths from children being left in cars began to climb in the late 1990s when officials realized that front-seat airbags were killing kids in wrecks and a movement began to put kids in the back, Rollins said.
"Children absolutely are safer in the back seat," she said. "But one of the unintended consequences is that children were being forgotten.
Ref: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio.../11087783/
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Unlike Justin Ross Harris, this father responded to a call from the caregivers (the grandparents, in this case) when the baby didn't arrive as planned. Harris did not respond to the email his daycare facility sent when his son didn't arrive as expected.
Unlike Justin Ross Harris, this father called 911 and was inconsolable at the death of his daughter (rather than focused on how it would impact HIM).
But, Anne Marie is just as dead as Cooper Harris, even though LE doesn't believe her father had any intent whatsoever to harm her. They are leaving it to a jury to decide his punishment.
(Edit, link)
ROCKLEDGE, Fla. — Steven Darnell Lillie, 31, was arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter a week after his 9-month-old daughter, Anna Marie Lillie (RIP), died when he forgot to drop her off at her grandmother's house before he went to work.
"He's been cooperative the whole time, and he handled the arrest as well as it could be handled. He was emotional," said Lt. Donna Seyferth, a spokeswoman for the Rockledge Police Department.
Anna Marie spent close to four hours in her car seat in the back seat of her father's truck. She succumbed to heat stroke before Lillie realized the problem when he received a call from a family member asking about the baby. The child's core body temperature was more than 109 degrees when she arrived at the hospital, police said.
Children are more susceptible than adults to heatstroke, when body's internal temperature rises to 104 degrees. And unless any victims of heatstroke are cooled down quickly, they can die.
"We investigated the case and applied the most appropriate charges. And we did step back and allow the family a chance to grieve," Seyferth said. "But it's a fine line to walk, and ultimately, you had a child die. The rest will be up to a jury."
Lillie had told police that he forgot to check the backseat of his truck before he went inside the offices of the Fraternal Order of Police where he worked as a telephone solicitor.
Lillie told police he was going to drop off his colleague at work before dropping off his child and expected to have to unlock the door for his colleague.
But the door to the office in a strip mall was open. He walked in, saw paperwork on his desk, sat down and focused on his job.
Because the door was unlocked when he arrived, Lillie told police thought he already had dropped off his child and went about his normal routine until the 4:45 p.m. phone call.
In about half of the heatstroke cases, a parent or responsible party is charged in connection with a child's death, said Amber Rollins, director and volunteer manager of KidsAndCars.org. The nonprofit child safety organization monitors news sites and police reports involving children and vehicle accidents.
The group has more difficulty following a case to its conclusion, but in almost 500 incidents where their volunteers were able to determine the outcome about a third resulted in convictions.
"She's been in the car for hours, and I absolutely forgot about her," Lillie said in a 9-1-1 call. "She's not alive."
Anna Marie was the 12th death in the United States so far this year of a child who succumbed to heat stroke in a vehicle, according to KidsAndCars.org.
A 22-month-old boy, Cooper Harris, died that Wednesday in Atlanta in the back seat of his father's sport utility vehicle, becoming the 13th death. (Mock thread on that case here: http://mockforums.net/showthread.php?tid=11257)
The National Safety Council recommends that parents leave something in the back seat of their vehicle that they need for work or their errands, such as a briefcase, purse or cellphone, to serve as a reminder of a child in a car seat. KidsAndCars.org suggests keeping a stuffed animal in a child's car seat to put in the front passenger seat as a reminder when a parent is transporting the baby.
The number of deaths from children being left in cars began to climb in the late 1990s when officials realized that front-seat airbags were killing kids in wrecks and a movement began to put kids in the back, Rollins said.
"Children absolutely are safer in the back seat," she said. "But one of the unintended consequences is that children were being forgotten.
Ref: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio.../11087783/
-------------------------------------------------------
Unlike Justin Ross Harris, this father responded to a call from the caregivers (the grandparents, in this case) when the baby didn't arrive as planned. Harris did not respond to the email his daycare facility sent when his son didn't arrive as expected.
Unlike Justin Ross Harris, this father called 911 and was inconsolable at the death of his daughter (rather than focused on how it would impact HIM).
But, Anne Marie is just as dead as Cooper Harris, even though LE doesn't believe her father had any intent whatsoever to harm her. They are leaving it to a jury to decide his punishment.
(Edit, link)