One tragedy turned into two for a Nevada family on Friday. The father was backing his SUV out of his driveway when his little boy ran out and was hit.
The toddler was transported to a local hospital, where he later died. But the distraught father stayed behind in the driveway of his Reno, Nev., home — and stabbed himself in the chest. The father was listed in stable condition over the weekend, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported. Police did not release the names of anyone in the case.
So if you’re high on drugs and need to get home, what’s a parent to do? Lakisha Hogue apparently decided the best solution was to let her 6-year-old daughter drive their SUV.
Hogue, 30, of southeastern Pennsylvania, was arrested and charged with child endangerment after cops stopped the vehicle on Sunday afternoon, the Associated Press reported. Police say that Hogue was sitting in the passenger seat and told them that she was teaching the girl to drive. Hogue was jailed on $15,000 bond.
Teens are notoriously bad drivers, but maybe worried parents should take a look in the mirror. Many moms and dads are setting bad examples when they’re behind the wheel.
Sixty-percent of 500 parents of teens questioned in an online survey admitted to talking on the cell phone while driving, according to Reuters. Forty-two percent coped to speeding, while 17 percent said that they had sent emails or texts while driving.
No one is a bigger influence on a teen’s driving habits, according to Dave Melton, a driving safety expert with Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. ”And if they grow up watching their Mom or Dad speed, talk on their cell phone, text and email, or pay more attention to what’s on the radio than their driving, they are going to think it’s okay to do the same thing.”
Hey, Mom and Dad: Hang up and drive!
The judge wanted Lisa Marie Morris to be a lesson to all other parents — if you forget your child in a hot car, you go to jail.
Morris, 26, was sentenced last week to five years in prison followed by five years on probation for leaving her baby inside her car. Morris and her cousin had returned to her Augusta, Ga., area home after running errands on Aug. 7, 2008, and Morris says she thought the cousin had brought the child inside. Instead, Dalton Morris, who was just six weeks old, died in the car, where temperatures reached up to 126 degrees.
Morris pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and asked the judge not to send her to jail because she needs to take care of her 5-year-old daughter.
But Judge Michael N. Annis showed no mercy, the Augusta Chronicle reported. He said that Dalton’s death was completely preventable.
A teacher’s aide apparently forgot to take her seven-month-old girl to a babysitter and instead left the child in a school parking lot while she worked on Friday. Addeleena Sanchez died after being left in the car for five hours on Friday at Bowie Elementary School near Dallas, the Corsicana Daily Sun reported.
The child’s mother, 23, called her babysitter around 1:20 p.m., and that’s when she realized that she had forgotten the girl in the car. The temperature then in Corsicana, Tex., was 89 degrees. Police are investigating and have not yet decided whether to charge the mother.
So far this year, 29 kids have died after being left in hot cars. See stories about the tragedies here.
A man told police that he mixed crushed aspirin tablets into a jar of baby food at a CVS drug store in San Jose and may have poisoned more baby food at another store.
Cops have recovered a possibly contaminated jar of Gerber apple-flavored oatmeal. They’re asking customers to be careful with any baby food jars that appear to be tampered with, the San Jose Mercury News reported this weekend.
David Conklin, a 29-year-old transient, has been arrested and is being held ona charge of suspicion of felony poisoning. He had called police to tell them that he had done a “bad thing.”
A one-year-old boy was strangled after a lift cord loop fell into his portable crib. Another boy, 13 months old, had his head caught between the exposed inner cord and cloth on the back of a Roman shade. And a four-year-old girl died after being tangled in the loop of a verticle blind cord that wasn’t attached to the wall or floor.
The blinds or shades in the deaths were made or imported by Lewis Hyman of Carson, Calif., and Vertical Land of Panama Beach City, Fla. But four other companies are also recalling their products as well. The massive recall involves about 5.5 million blinds or shades.
Pottery Barn Kids is recalling Roman shades after reports of six kids becoming entangled in the inner cord. Ikea has decided to recall Roman blinds after a 2-year-old boy was nearly strangled in a looped beaded chain. Target is recalling cloth and bamboo Roman shades made by Victoria Classics even though injuries haven’t been reported. Similarly, Lutron Shading Solutions is taking back its roller shades although it hasn’t received any negative reports.
For more info on the specific blinds being recalled, check out the web site for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
A Texas father says he “just totally forgot” to drop off his toddler son at daycare and instead left him in a hot car while he spent the day at work.
Kesen Hu, 34, went to his job at PayPal in the Austin, Tex., area at 9:20 a.m. last Wednesday, and seven hours later, returned to the car, where he found his son dead. Eighteen-month-old Daniel had died of hyperthermia, police said.
Now authorities are arguing over whether Hu should be charged. Police told the Austin-American Statesman that the investigation had not been finished, but that the district attorney wanted to quick action. Hu has now been charged with felony child endangerment. District Attorney John Bradley said that he wanted to send a message about child safety.
So far this year, 28 kids have died from heat stroke or hyperthermia after being left in hot cars.
One-year-old Giselle Gomez was so overheated after being left in a car that her face and body became covered with yellow heat blisters. The child died on Wednesday, and now her mother, Jennifer Gomez, has been jailed and charged with felony child endangerment.
Jennifer Gomez, 22, had left Giselle and her two-year-old sister in the car while she visited at relative at an insurance agency in Belleville, Mo. The kids had been sleeping, and the car’s engine was left running, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The older child might have accidently turned on the heater, but later managed to leave the car and was not injured, detectives told the newspaper. Giselle wasn’t so lucky — she was strapped into a car seat — and was trapped inside the hot vehicle for at least an hour. The outside temperature at the time was 89 degrees.
She apparently wanted to see what Daddy was doing. But Donald Haslem didn’t see his 2-year-old daughter when he was moving his Jeep Wrangler from his neighbor’s carport. When he pulled the Jeep forward, he realized that he had run something over, according to a news release from the Winter Haven, Fla., police department.
Laysha Haslem was pronounced dead at a local hospital on Friday. An average of two kids die each week as a result of being hit by cars in driveways, according to Kids and Cars, a safety advocacy group. Summer is a deadly season, as children tend to be outside. Click here for safety tips and how to teach your child about the dangers of cars.