Posted on 07/31/2007 6:36:54 PM PDT by aomagrat
HANAHAN, S.C. (AP) — Two small children who had been left in a hot car while their mother was at work were later found dead, their bodies in trash bags under an apartment sink, authorities said Tuesday.
Autopsies were scheduled Tuesday to determine the causes of death of 1-year-old girl Triniti Campbell and 4-year-old Shawn Campbell Jr., Berkeley County Deputy Coroner George Oliver said.
The children's mother, Sametta Heyward, 27, had taken them to work Monday in downtown Charleston and left them in her car all day as the temperature outside rose to 88 degrees, Oliver said.
Officers investigating a report of a disturbance at Heyward's apartment Monday night and found her crying and yelling, "'Oh, my babies,"' according to an incident report.
A man holding Heyward told officers "the kids were in trash bags and under the cabinet." The police report said Heyward tried to bite and kick the officers, had to be restrained, and was taken to a hospital because medics thought she could be having seizures.
"She stated she wanted to die and asked officers to kill her," the report said.
Hanahan Police Chief Don Wilcox said investigators have not been able to talk to the woman because she was advised by an attorney not to say anything.
"We're trying to run down the timeline, as well as get any physical evidence, so we can determine exactly what took place," Wilcox said.
Neighbor Brandon Coving said he saw Heyward and the children on Sunday. "They were running around, and she had a big smile on her face, and it seemed like a regular day," he said.
Coving lived about eight doors down from Heyward on the second floor of The Willows, a two-story apartment complex with cranberry red doors. There are 44 units at the complex, which resembles a motel.
Apartment manager Ricky Dyson said the 252 square-foot apartment had a queen bed, a small bathroom and an efficiency kitchen.
He said Heyward moved there in May and said she wasn't going to stay long and was looking for another place.
"She was just a regular working girl out there making a living," Dyson said.
Yellow police tape was put up along the door to Heyward's apartment, but there were no officers around at midday Tuesday. A small white teddy bear had been placed outside the apartment.
Hanahan is about 15 miles north of Charleston.
We have a troll here.
You posting from party headquarters in red china?
"And if you have a child and then become low-income, the child should be taken away and given up for adoption."
Are you a former official from the Pol Pot regime that escaped prosecution?
I can’t imagine what the little girls went through. One of them dies, and the other one is crying for her sister’s death, and then she fades away. I’ve got two baby girls, and I can’t even “go there” in my thinking. How very, very sad.
Women in these situations need to give up their children to foster care or adoption so that higher-income people can raise the children.”
_____________________
No, women in these situations need to be neutered.
Responsibility for ones actions. Simple.
I'm going to give you credit here and just assume you're making a bad joke.
This isn't red china. It's America.
Americans of any economic circumstances are free to have as many children as they want. They are also responsible for every last decision they make.
There are no excuses for leaving children in a death trap like a hot car. And no government has any business telling Americans whether they can produce and raise children.
Investigators found a note Heyward left at her apartment, explaining that she had arranged for a baby sitter, but when plans fell through she took the children with her in the car to work in downtown Charleston Townhall.com
This sounds less like a case of not being able to afford child care and more like a case where the baby sitter didn't show.
Yes, child neglect and child abuse are crimes that exist only amongst the poor. We must remove these children now. / sarc
By the way, if I was in the position where I could not come up with $169 I would make damn sure I didn't get pregnant.
“This sounds less like a case of not being able to afford child care and more like a case where the baby sitter didn’t show.”
As
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/7/31/153411/700
writes:
“At the previous minimum wage, she would have brought home $206/week before taxes. She had a 60x14 ft. mobile home, but she didn’t have the $169.75 to pay the taxes on it and it was sold by Charleston County. If she was lucky, she got a respectable one-bedroom apartment for $590/month. That works out to $136.15 per week in rent, leaving her $69.85 per week for ALL OTHER EXPENSES - food - utilities - phone - gas - car - insurance - clothes - for her and her two children. Even if she qualified for and received state and Federal assistance for these expenses, under $70 a week is not enough money to pay for child care for a 1- and 4-year old.
“I picture her asking friends, family, neighbors to help out with her two children. I picture those people helping her whenever they could. But there came a day when no one was available to watch these two kids. Sametta couldn’t take them into work with her, and she couldn’t leave them alone. She didn’t figure it would be so hot that day, and she knew tht if she didn’t show up for work - at best - she would lose a day’s work and money to eat; and, at worst - she would lose the job entirely. So she figured that leaving the kids in the car was the only option she had. And so she did.
“I repeat: this is just speculation on my part. It’s difficult to envision a rational person leaving her two young children in a car period, et alone during the summertime in South Carolina. I’m not defending leaving chidren in cars. I’m not defending even the mildest form of neglect of child.
“But let’s face it - these kinds of trade-offs are going on every day (and right this moment) in America. Despite the incessant touting of our “strong economy”, the number of people and particularly children below the poverty level is growing. Real wages are not growing. The cost of living is growing. More people, and particularly children, are going without basic health care.
“So I ask you: are the Sametta’s of this world simply bad parents or are they being placed in positions where a bad choice is their best option? “
I was thinking the same thing.
What the hell is happening to our country?”
We’ve been invaded by morons.
Well said Bonaparte, there are a whole bunch of people on this thread who do not belong on a conservative site. Anyone who thinks the government has the right to tell anyone how many children they can have isn't a conservative but a dyed in the wool, hard core communist.
My baby had a fever so I thought if I put him in the freezer.....
My baby was all wet so I thought if I put him in the oven.....
Even if that story pans out, that the babysitter didn’t show, why didn’t she take the kids in to work with her until a friend or family member could arrive to care for the child? PUHLEASE. Responsible parents, low-income or not, don’t leave their children THAT YOUNG alone in a car all day (if that story is, in fact, true.) And any parent who does that, should not have children. There is absolutely no excuse. What is this world coming to?
They should have obliged, and saved the public future millions to convict and imprison this rapid animal.
In the Northeast, you pretty much can get everything you need for free if you are poor. Healthcare, daycare, food, housing. And you don't even have to be a citizen to get it.
“This story doesn’t smell quite right. I can see a 1 year old, but 4 year olds can get themselves out of car seats and out of cars. I’m not sure I’m buying her story.”
Also, not knowing what type of work she did I can only assume but, aren’t all employees entitled to some kind of breaks during work hours? And she didn’t check on the children at those times?? Does not pass that smell test.
Why the hell are you reposting DailyKos garbage that uses Michael Moore propaganda as sources?
There's quite a bit in there about the working poor. There's a lot to be said for paying attention in school and educating yourself with a variety of job skills. Unfortunately in the ghetto and elsewhere, there is no motivation to excel in education.
I believe that there should be a kind of 'safety net' for life's setbacks.
There was a safety net that worked for many years, unfortunately, many thought that it was a hammock - and so it had to be taken down.
We will see more stories like this.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.