Photo: Mendocino Sheriff’s Office
A woman from California is now being held in police custody after her toddler son died because she left him in a locked car for 10 hours straight, the Mendocino Sheriff’s Office confirms.
Despite countless initiatives and warnings, children are still dying across the US, as parents and caregivers continue to leave them – accidentally or not – inside locked cars in the sun. This is just another example that, sometimes, parents fail to realize how tragic the consequences of such an act can be.
Though the police press release notes that Alexandrea Raven Scott left her son, Chergery Teywoh Lew Mays, “accidentally” in the car, the fact that she left him there for 10 hours while she went socializing certainly seems to suggest otherwise.
According to the police report, Scott was visiting with friends when the incident happened. She drove to their house at 3 o’clock in the morning and left at about 1 o’clock at noon the next day. This is when she realized that something was wrong with her son, so she took him to the Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits. He was pronounced dead on arrival.
“Once there [at her friends’ house], Scott, who resides in Humboldt County, socialized with people while leaving her child in the back seat of her car which was parked in front of the residence with the windows rolled up,” the police report reads.
“It is believed the child was left unattended in the back seat of the vehicle with the windows rolled up for about 10 hours,” adds the same document.
The woman was taken to the Mendocino County Jail and is being charged with willfully causing or permitting a child to suffer great bodily injury or death, the statement continues. She is being held without bail.
Recent PSAs warn that even a few minutes in a locked car in warm weather can increase the temperature inside the vehicle to the point where it becomes life-threatening for a child. To prevent such tragedies, parents are encouraged to use visual cues as reminders to always check the back seat, so as to never forget the child behind.
Though the police press release notes that Alexandrea Raven Scott left her son, Chergery Teywoh Lew Mays, “accidentally” in the car, the fact that she left him there for 10 hours while she went socializing certainly seems to suggest otherwise.
According to the police report, Scott was visiting with friends when the incident happened. She drove to their house at 3 o’clock in the morning and left at about 1 o’clock at noon the next day. This is when she realized that something was wrong with her son, so she took him to the Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits. He was pronounced dead on arrival.
“Once there [at her friends’ house], Scott, who resides in Humboldt County, socialized with people while leaving her child in the back seat of her car which was parked in front of the residence with the windows rolled up,” the police report reads.
“It is believed the child was left unattended in the back seat of the vehicle with the windows rolled up for about 10 hours,” adds the same document.
The woman was taken to the Mendocino County Jail and is being charged with willfully causing or permitting a child to suffer great bodily injury or death, the statement continues. She is being held without bail.
Recent PSAs warn that even a few minutes in a locked car in warm weather can increase the temperature inside the vehicle to the point where it becomes life-threatening for a child. To prevent such tragedies, parents are encouraged to use visual cues as reminders to always check the back seat, so as to never forget the child behind.
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