Posted on 07/21/2008 12:45:53 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A Florida woman preparing for her wedding over the weekend is instead mourning the death of her 4-year-old son after she left him in a hot SUV for three hours Saturday, reported WPBF, Newsnet5's sister station.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said Mirlande Jean-Baptiste, 29, may not have known that her son Gregory Cesar was in her Ford Expedition while she was inside a nail salon Saturday.
Family members said that Jean-Baptiste had dropped off several children at a relative's house before going to the salon with her sister.
Police told WPBF News 25 that they believe Gregory may have snuck back inside the SUV without his mother's knowledge.
Jean-Baptiste was getting her nails done in preparation for her wedding, which was planned for Sunday.
Investigators said that the boy was in the hot car for about three hours while temperatures outside reached 90 degrees.
Gregory's mother and aunt called 911 upon finding the boy unconscious inside the vehicle. He was taken to Palms West Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said the case is still under investigation.
Hard to believe a four year old can be in the car without everybody knowing about it.
Very sad. Hard to believe she did not know her son was back there, although it is possible he snuck back him. Tragic either way. Prayers to the family.
Obama voter.
Oh no, here we go again. Half of FR will want to hang the mom, the other half will want to award her “Mother of the Year” plaques.
How do you not know that you left a child in your car? There is no excuse for this. These poor little children rely on we adults for protection and their survival, and they are helpless when we let them down.
Very sad and tragic, but how does someone forget their own child????
Aw, he was a cutie. I can’t even imagine what that woman is going through. She’ll probably remember that everyday for the rest of her life.
Aw, he was a cutie. I can’t even imagine what that woman is going through. She’ll probably remember that everyday for the rest of her life.
Doesn't the wedding usually come before the having kids part?
Well, either the child was left alone somewhere, or left with a babysitter. Either way, no one noticed where this 4 year old was for over 3 hours. Sounds like plenty of problems with this scenario.
Before we shoot her, let's wait and see if she postpones the wedding, that will help determine her character (or lack there of).
What's to investigate? The mother is negligent....period. Her nails were obviously more important than her son.....
But then, where exactly did she think he was for three full hours? Someone had to be watching him, whoever it was has a load of guilt on their shoulders.
It seems to me that a FOUR year old child should be smart enough and dexterious enough to let himself out of a car when it becomes unbearably hot; unless he was strapped in.
Conversely, if he was strapped in then there is NO WAY he had “snuck back in” the vehicle.
Then again, those “child-locks” on the back doors of vehicles, the ones that render the inside door handles useless, ARE there “for the children”.
What a tragedy.
“Doesn’t the wedding usually come before the having kids part?”
Not any more. Welcome to our Brave New World!
“Doesn’t the wedding usually come before the having kids part?”
That is a counter-revolutionary idea that dates back to when women were oppressed and people obtained jobs via their qualifications.
Exactly. Even if he snuck back in, the “relative” should have missed him and done something - call the mom, call the salon, call the police, something.
My 4 year old knows how to get out of the car.
poor little feller
mom...damn...what a stupid bitch
What a cutie and what a shame.
What is wrong with these mothers? Talk about negligence.
There’s the problem right there. The child locks would have trapped the kid after he got in.
Regardless of what else was going on, the tragedy could have been averted had the car been locked.
No sale.
Only with same-sex weddings.
not anymore in this anything goes, don't make judgement culture....you bigot you
Now no vehicles are left unlocked on the property.
Why don't we just wait to see if she would leave her kid trapped in a hot care while she tended to her nails, before passing judgment? Check. OK let's shoot her, or sign her up for an episode of Bridezillas.
She’ll never get over this. Never.
Why don't we wait for some follow up information and factual details?
There are certain "what if" statements that can be made. One is that IF she was aware the kid was in the car, she is a murderer. We don't know that to be a fact at this point. But if it is indeed a fact, then off with her head.
Seems unlikely, but it is possible that the kid could have snuck back into the vehicle and fooled her. If that indeed happened, then we are looking at a more basic tragedy. It is not unreasonable to assume that for the kid to pull that off, someone was careless. Criminally careless? Not enough facts yet.
My nine year old grandson is sitting by me. I asked him what he thought of forgetting your child in a car. He laughed first, like it was silly (I didn’t tell him any details) and then he said, “it’s impossible, especially (to forget) a kid. Wouldn’t you be walking along or something and say where’s my kid?”
That’s a good point. He was supposed to be at the sitters. What kind of sitter doesn’t notice a child is missing in 3 hours? If the sitter did notice, what kind of sitter doesn’t attempt to contact the mother?
We were at two kid birthday parties this weekend. Both times my 2yr old got away from the group and was found out front, one time in the street. Scary, scary stuff. Gave me a nightmare last night. Hopefully this was a mistake and not negligence on her part, either way it can’t bring him back. God be with all involved.
I have those child locks on my car and have them turned on, ever since my toddler son started pulling on the handle as a funny “see Mommy’s reaction” game.
I have also taught my pre-K daughter how to climb to the front and let herself out if she and/or her brother ever got stuck inside.
Yours is one of the most ignorant posts I have read in a long time. What half of FR would want to award her "Mother of the Year?"
I'd have that post pulled if I were you.
The thinking that you should be married before having kids is judgemental and patriarchal, and is only a part of a culture that seeks to oppress women.
/feminist BS
Illustrative that the Bible mentions feminism in the same verse as rebellious children... just sayin’
Not that I’d make book on it, but it is quite possible that a 29 yo woman could have been previously married, then divorced.
No one here ever seen a divorced 29 yo woman with a 4 yo kid get remarried?
We have plenty of time to hang her. Why don’t we wait for a little more information before doing so. I’ll knot the noose, but only after I get more than this truncated story.
She drops off the children at the sitter's house. While no one is paying attention, little Gregory climbs into the open car.
Gregory is hiding and keeping quiet in the back seat because he knows he is not supposed to be there. He then falls asleep on the way to the nail salon and remains unseen.
During the three hours Mirlande is in the salon, the babysitter does not bother to call her because she has for some reason assumed that Gregory was supposed to go with Mirlande and was not being dropped off with her.
Meanwhile Gregory's body temperature rises so much while he is sleeping that by the time he wakes up - if he wakes up - he is too weak to do much of anything to call attention to himself.
I agree..even after two heart surgeries and even in the stupor of Dixie summer heat, I doubt I would leave a child in the car by accident.
Assuming she is a more or less normal mother, and not some kind of ultra-selfish, narcissistic, socio-path, I agree with you.
Car locked? WHY DID SHE NOT MISS THIS CHILD DURING THOSE THREE HOURS???? DID SHE NOT SEE HIM AROUND??? DID SHE THINK HE WAS JUST IN THE OTHER ROOM PLAYING FOR THREE FREAKING HOURS????? THIS DOES NOT JIVE.
A 4 year old has a mouth and I can’t understand why he wasn’t hollering and sceaming and no one heard him. It would be hard for a 4 year old to sneak back in the car without saying something.
I think he was asleep and she just forgot to take him out of the car. They said she dropped off other kids—she had probably had quite a few.
Very plausible.
I hope it, or something very like it, is the true story here.
all good questions raised here. here’s mine: who goes to a nail salon for 3 hours??? unless it was one of those manicures where every nail has a portrait painted on it.
Not at all hard to believe, actually ... my sisters even did it, when they were little. Snuck into my grandparents' car, and weren't discovered for several miles.
This kid could easily have done so, especially if the mom was distracted by the "several other children" she was dropping off.
Then suppose he fell asleep -- not out of the realm of possibility -- and you've got a little guy who's about to wake up dead.
And if things happened exactly as you say (there is no evidence given which precludes your scenario) then we have some mighty hasty hangmen here.
God forbid some tragedy befall them- a kid drowning in the bath tub, a kid knocks over a candle, a kid darts behind their car while backing out of the drive, a kid chokes on a peice of candy....
Hope they will “understand” when the lynch mob arrives for them.
Shouldn't that read "in spite of their qualifications".
Your comment is unbelievably cold. You should be ashamed.
For all you know, it could be a second marriage. Yours is the kind of comment that makes me hesitate to refer friends to FR.
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