Posted on 08/21/2002 11:19:57 AM PDT by chance33_98
Baby left more than four hours in car "She was shaking. It looked like she was trying to breath"
08/20/2002
By Jason Whitely / 11 News
HOUSTON (KHOU) -- A baby girl is struggling to survive after being left for hours in a hot car in Houston. Police questioned the child's aunt after she apparently left the seven-month-old girl in a car parked at an apartment complex. Police say the child's aunt was supposed to drop the baby off at a babysitter about 9:00 Tuesday morning but forgot the child was in the car.
Neighbors seemed to have lost their breath when they heard what happened. "She was going into convulsions. She was shaking. It looked like she was trying to breathe," said Victoria Gonzales. "I mean it was just terrible looking at the baby."
They say she went upstairs to her apartment at the Westward Square complex in the 6200 block of Gulfton. Hours later, they say she remembered the child around 1:40 Tuesday afternoon. Police say that the child's aunt apparently left her there.
"Three to four hours later the aunt remembered that the baby was left in the car," explained David Vasquez, with the Houston Police Department. "She yelled out for her husband to go check the baby in the car. The husband did. He did locate the baby still inside the baby seat."
The husband said that the child was still breathing at the time, and he called 911.
"She usually goes and leaves the baby at the babysitter's. She forgot all about it," said Gonzales. "She said that her children are sick in El Salvador. Her mother had called her, so she was trying to call her mom in El Salvador. The baby was asleep in the back seat and she forgot all about the baby."
The little girl was rushed to the hospital and remains critical condition.
Investigators said that they took the aunt to the police station downtown for questioning, along with some witnesses. No charges were immediately filed against the relative. The family was no doubt thankful that the aunt remembered in time to save the child.
The mother was not at the scene. Officials say she was at work.
The aunt is no longer being questioned by the homicide division. But it is still unclear if any charges were filed against her.
Infant forgotten in hot car by aunt
A baby girl was left in her aunt's hot car for several hours.
ABC13 Eyewitness News
(8/21/02) — A seven-month-old girl left in a car for five hours in Tuesday's sweltering heat appears to be recovering. The child was discovered in an apartment complex near Gulfton and Westward. The baby's aunt took her sister to work Tuesday morning, and normally she would then take the baby to a babysitter. But she says she was preoccupied on this occasion, because her own children are sick and out of the country. The woman came home to her apartment around 8:30am and went inside to call her mother, and forgot the baby in the car.
Four to five hours later she suddenly remembered the baby in the car and called for her husband to check on the infant. When he found the baby was still breathing, the aunt called 911. According to witnesses, the child was turning purple and having convulsions. Paramedics took the baby to Southwest Memorial Hospital. The baby was later transferred to Texas Children's Hospital. The hospital won't release any information about her condition, but her family tells us she's much better.
The baby's aunt was taken into custody for questioning. The aunt has been taken into police custody for questioning. We're told the baby's mother left her job and rushed to the hospital.
The police investigation is continuing, and it is not known yet what charges, if any, will be filed.
What is the matter with those morons. How can you forget you have a child in your car? I like to know what drugs they are on
Partially, at 7 months they are still facing backwards and can't be put up front due to airbags.
It is also because parents, mothers in particular, are accustomed to being away from their babies most of the time. They drop them in day care and go to work so they are used to spending long hours not thinking about them.
LOL! Obviously, you're not a mom with kids in daycare.
Clearly, women who choose to work and are so thoughtless as to put their kids in DAYCARE instead of staying home and talking on the phone to their psychic while the kids watch TV and play video games...are irresponsible. Bad Mommy, bad. </SARCASM OFF>
Get a grip - daycare did not create this problem, and stay at home moms are NOT inherently better mothers.
My daughter has kids of her own now. After a few moments of quiet, I am checking to see what they are into. Anyone come by with their kids, my radar still works after a few moments of quiet to see what they are up to.
Mine or not, 5 weeks old or 5 years old, there is no excuse for forgetting to check for hours on a child in ones care IMO.
Let's see, dropping a kid off with strangers is better than watching and nurturing them yourself? What drug are you on?
Some mothers have to work, but pretending that is just as good as being around for your kid is just delusional.
No, preaching from your homeschooling "I'm the better parent" high horse is delusional - parenting is an intrinsically PERSONAL undertaking, and like it or not, your solution might not be in every child's best interest.
All daycare is NOT created equal, and merely choosing not to work does not equate to "being there for your kid".
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.