Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide detectives examine the car in which they say the brothers, age 3 and 5, were locked in for about five hours before they were discovered by police. (Photo: AP)
Posted on 07/09/2003 10:53:04 AM PDT by newgeezer
For discussion and educational use only.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide detectives examine the car in which they say the brothers, age 3 and 5, were locked in for about five hours before they were discovered by police. (Photo: AP) |
LANCASTER, Calif. (AP)--The foster mother of two young boys who died after being left five hours in a sweltering sport utility vehicle was arrested for investigation of child endangerment.
Leslie Sue Smoot, 48, was booked late Tuesday night and held on $100,000 bail. No court date was scheduled.
Sheriff Lee Baca said earlier Tuesday that those responsible for leaving the children in the car would be charged with child endangerment and possibly manslaughter.
``Vehicles are not playpens,'' he said. ``Vehicles are not baby sitters. And vehicles, when they are not properly ventilated, are death traps.''
Smoot told authorities she left the boys, ages 3 and 5, in the car around 9 a.m. outside A Child's Place Daycare, which she ran.
``She indicated she thought someone else was going to get the children out of the car, possibly her husband,'' Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Al Grotefend said. ``There was some miscommunication.''
Smoot told investigators she discovered the boys in their car seats when she returned in the afternoon and pulled them from the vehicle.
The 5-year-old was dead. His brother, who was severely dehydrated, died a short time later at a hospital, sheriff's Sgt. Paul Patterson said.
Afternoon temperatures hovered around 100 degrees in the high desert town about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
Officials from the Department of Children and Family Services said they will investigate.
A woman who answered the phone at A Child's Place Daycare declined to comment. Friends and parents gathered Tuesday at the 24-hour day care center.
Naeemah Edwards, whose daughter attended the center, told KABC-TV she was shocked.
``They come in with my daughter, and they play together,'' she said, adding that she would not let her child to return to the center.
AP-NY-07-09-03 0642EDT
Copyright 2003, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Alouette - get a load of post 9.
When I was four, I unlocked the car door and opened it. While the car was on the freeway.
My grandmother instantly reached over with one hand, yanked me over the back seat and into the front, and gave me a serious spanking.
It is quite the pant load.
Right. Smoot: "Who ya gonna believe? Me, or the deputies?"
It was because of the same sinat hinom (unjustified hatred) EXPRESSED BY YOU in your nasty posts, your bigoted stereotyping of an entire group of people as though these identical tragedies never ever happen to anyone else, and then topping it off by insulting me for not agreeing with you.
As for calling me a "Welfare Bum" NotaCookie, at the same time whining that I "flamed you", I'm an educated professional who is CONSTANTLY hustling for contract jobs because the IT industry sucks so bad. I don't take handouts and I am continuously struggling to find a job. You owe me an apology.
Pat Robertson is not an anti-Semite and he is not a bad man. Proseltyzing for his religion is a requirement of his faith. It is not his fault that some of the liberal denominations of Judaism fail to provide their members with enough scriptural expertise to counter the arguments of a missionary.
You probably did not bother to read the Jerusalem Post article I linked to either.
I know you marked it, but I'm curious why you decided to throw that in.
Electric hybrids are superior in many ways - fuel efficiency, emissions, etc. - to the SUV in which these boys died.
No one, however, ever says that electric hybrids will prevent stupid adults from harming children. Did your comment just come from your hatred of hybrids?
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.