When this story first came to light, I was saddened and angry at the same time.

Sad, because the child was dead and because I can't imagine the heartache the father must feel knowing what he did.

Angry, because I cannot fathom how anyone could forget their child. My own is not never far from the fore-front of my mind.

Forgetful dad off the hook

CP


MONTREAL -- A manslaughter charge has been dropped against a man whose 23-month-old daughter died of heatstroke last summer when he forgot her in his car. The Crown dropped the charge last Thursday after concluding there was no negligence on the part of Dominic Martin, who is in his mid-20s.

Audrey died on a hot day last July after being left alone in the family car for more than eight hours.

Martin, who had been working long hours, broke with routine and didn't take his daughter to a local day care before dropping off his wife at work.

The family was apparently running late and Martin drove his wife to work first. Martin then parked his car near a subway station and forgot his daughter, who was sleeping in her car seat in the back.

When Martin returned that afternoon, Audrey was unconscious. He rushed her to hospital, where she later died.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

Probably a good call on the part of the judicial system. It seems to be the fashion these days to turn every tragedy into a criminal act. Like the insane mother who drowned her kids.

It's sad as hell, how someone could forget their kid is totally beyond me.

So, it's considered a tragedy when a forgetful parent leaves their child to perish in a hot vehicle...but if a day care worker did the same (as happended here in Dallas last year), it's a criminal act!

These are ALL criminal acts! You can accidentally leave the stove on, or the water running, but you don't accidentally leave your kid locked in your car all day!

Sorry, I don't share the same sentiment...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Yeah well it seems to me he has already gotten a life sentance.

That's a big issue out here with both kids and pets. Local police have actually had ad campaigns going that encourage bystanders to kick car windows in and rescue children and pets from parked cars. I don't know how many of you folks have been to Phoenix, but a parked car in the sun (there's not much shade here) in the summer could roast a turkey. It seems like at least a couple of young kids die each year here for that very reason.

MBlovr do you have any kids? Honestly, I cannot fathom how a parent could possibly forget the whereabouts of his child. I'm sure the poor slob didn't intend this to happen, but the negligence here strikes me as being pretty extreme.

In Texas the authorities have no mercy on this one. You leave a kid in a car here, you go to the joint, and you go for a very long time. It may not be fair to those who will spend the rest of their lives in agonizing emotional punishment over their actions, but it sure works at making everybody else stop and think to be a little more careful, or the consequences could be an un-air conditioned prison farm out in the desert for the next 20 years being your new home.
It may be cruel, but its necessary.

Kirk Vining
5 boys, ages 2 - 22

I'm a fairly new Dad and things like that scare me. Not to make any judgement, but it's easy to say "how can someone forget a child?" because you're emotionally involved. Remove the emotional content and all that's left is a mental event which can easily disappear.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Actually, I'm saying that from my experience in reference to my child. Having a child was (for me at least) a life-changing experience that forever shifted the focus of my life to my child. I could no sooner forget the whereabouts of my child than I could my own arm. You say you're a new dad -- can you envision a scenario in which you forget that your child is in a car with you? I'm not quite certain of your meaning by the use of "emotionally involved". How can a responsible parent not be emotionally involved with the wellfare of his/her child?

Why not? You could hit yourself on the head. Some people have poor short term memory and don't know it. No, I can't envision such a scenario you mention, but that's me, not this guy. Other people certainly could. Not everyone is like me or you. Most sane "normal" functioning people wouldn't forget that their kid was in the back seat. I think this includes me. This guy was perhaps one in a hundred thousand. Statistically speaking that's pretty good considering how many outwardly whacky whackos live among us.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Kuan, move to Texas. Drive thru Huntsville. Observe inmates in field picking cotton in the 104 degree sun under watchful eye of man on horse with machine gun. Imagine yourself chained to big guy, who is looking forward to nighty time, and you. Guaranteed: short term memory will improve.

I don't know what this guy inhaled as a kid so don't gimme crap about not judging his ability to remember. Everyone here thinks everyone else who has a job, a car, a spouse, a kid, is normal. They're not all normal. I never said it was acceptable and I'm not defending this tragedy, I'm just trying to suggest that's it's not inconceivable.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Yes I have a son whom I dearly love and have managed through great diligence on my part to help him make it through his teens years alive. Could I imagine myself forgeting about my son? No. It's because I consider myself such a devoted father that I couldn't imagine somebody doing this other that totally innocently which implies lack of criminality to me. To me criminality implies some knowledge of the consequences of ones actions. This is different than in some cases where people knowingly left their child in a hot car. Which to me would clearly be criminal.
We had a girl in our office lose a child in the sitters custody because the sitter went to the bathroom and while she was there the baby got it's head caught between a sofa and a table.
Any time something goes wrong which could have be prevented could be construed as negligence but sometimes it's just tragic.

Folks,

It happened here in booming Mooresville about 2 years ago. A local vet left his very young (sleeping) son in the car all day by accident. The child was still in a reverse facing seat (for very young kids) in the back seat. Because of all the barking and general noise he was not noticed until too late. Horribly sad. I believe it was determined to be an accident. The dad was under psychiatric care for a long time.

Chuck