# People who "forget" their babies in the car on a hot day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 20, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248 "2014-06-20T22:47:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/241 "2014-06-25T23:00:51Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > It’s been confirmed. What made investigating officers suspicious of the father’s story was that the car “smelled to high heaven.” > **[FOX 5 Atlanta](https://www.fox5atlanta.com)** > > Atlanta breaking news, weather, and sports from FOX 5 Atlanta, WAGA, FOX 5, Atlanta news, Atlanta weather, Atlanta sports, Georgia news, Good Day Atlanta, FOX 5 Storm Team, FOX 5 I-Team, FOX 5 News, High 5 Sports. The smell information is in the video. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/242 "2014-06-25T23:12:31Z")
So, one case out of all the cases that happened in a year was deliberate murder. That doesn’t prove the OP’s thesis. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/243 "2014-06-25T23:17:34Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > So, one case out of all the cases that happened in a year was deliberate murder. That doesn’t prove the OP’s thesis. Never said that it did. I was addressing \*\*kambuckta’s \*\*“bullshit” claim. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/244 "2014-06-25T23:59:41Z")
I FIGURED IT OUT. **Hamlet** , if anyone in this thread or elsewhere says something like “it could happen to anybody,” the “it” being referred to is “_being responsible for the death of your own child through a memory lapse like this_”. No lack of responsibility is being ascribed. The very responsibility itself is wrapped up into the “it could happen to anybody” sentiment. What makes it so horrible, such a cause of legitimate guilt and legitimate sympathy, is that very fact about responsibility. No one’s denying responsibility, not in the sense in which you’re ascribing it. So when you come into the conversation insisting we should emphasize the parents’ responsibility, since people are already doing that, they’re confused by what you’re saying, and look for something you may be saying which makes sense given what they know. So they arrive at the conclusion you must be saying we shouldn’t be sympathetic with the parents. Which you didn’t mean. But it’s the natural interpretation of what you’re saying, because what you’re saying fails to take into account the fact that everyone here knows the parents are responsible, and that is in fact _part_ of what they’re talking about when they say things like “it could happen to anyone” and “I could easily have done that myself.” “It” and “that”, here _are_ “being responsible for the death of your own child.” There. I solved it. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/245 "2014-06-26T04:19:37Z")
For the record, **Hamlet** I didn’t think you were an asshole for having a differing viewpoint or for debating/defending it. I don’t think you’re an asshole of a person, and even though I disagree with your stance in this thread, I don’t think you’re an asshole for it. It was specifically your reply to **choie** (for the reasons in my post) that really ground my gears. I was seriously taken aback by it. But I see how you had to defend your argument/PoV against a lot of posters at once and I can understand posting more strongly (or whatever) in that situation. Just wanted to stress I objected (and should have stressed in my post) to that specific post, not the rest of your posts in this thread or you as a poster. And now “post” no longer looks like a word to me, just gibberish. Post post post post post post. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/246 "2014-06-26T15:20:04Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > For the record, **Hamlet** I didn’t think you were an asshole for having a differing viewpoint or for debating/defending it. I don’t think you’re an asshole of a person, and even though I disagree with your stance in this thread, I don’t think you’re an asshole for it. It was specifically your reply to **choie** (for the reasons in my post) that really ground my gears. I was seriously taken aback by it. > > But I see how you had to defend your argument/PoV against a lot of posters at once and I can understand posting more strongly (or whatever) in that situation. Just wanted to stress I objected (and should have stressed in my post) to that specific post, not the rest of your posts in this thread or you as a poster. > > And now “post” no longer looks like a word to me, just gibberish. Post post post post post post. Post post post post post post. Post post Post post post post. Post post post; post post. Post. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/247 "2014-06-26T15:32:07Z")
OMG! He’s gone postal!! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/248 "2014-06-26T19:00:21Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Considering one of the most recent cases of this involves a [father whose work computer was used to look up how long it takes an animal to die in a hot car](http://wreg.com/2014/06/25/source-dad-searched-how-long-it-takes-animal-to-die-in-hot-car-before-child-left-in-hot-car/) just before his kid died that way, I’m going with the OP not being a terrible person to think it’s sometimes deliberate. And it appears he [returned to the car](http://news.yahoo.com/warrant-man-returned-hot-suv-son-inside-192313407.html) during the day. > [@](#): > > A newly filed arrest warrant supporting the murder charge against 33-year-old Justin Ross Harris states that he stopped with his son for breakfast and also returned to put something inside his vehicle around lunchtime while the child was inside it. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/249 "2014-06-27T01:13:49Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Um, cite? I cannot imagine that a child who has died from overheating has any sort of ‘smell’, unless the child has been in the car for a number of days. Mere hours? I call bullshit. When the vet came to the house to euthanize my cocker spaniel, we had to call the doggie cremation people to come get her. The weather was very cool, and we wrapped her in an old towel and put her in a very cool utility closet. The guy came about 6 hours later, and when we opened the closet the smell made me gag. So the body of a small child in a very hot car? I have NO doubt at all that the stench of death was overwhelming. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/250 "2014-06-27T02:29:44Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Considering one of the most recent cases of this involves a [father whose work computer was used to look up how long it takes an animal to die in a hot car](http://wreg.com/2014/06/25/source-dad-searched-how-long-it-takes-animal-to-die-in-hot-car-before-child-left-in-hot-car/) just before his kid died that way, I’m going with the OP not being a terrible person to think it’s sometimes deliberate. ^ And _that_ is why 1) you need to take ANY media report with a grain of salt, and 2) there should always be an investigation of some sort when someone dies locked in a hot car. If it turns out to be deliberate then then responsible party should be prosecuted accordingly. That does not mean those who genuinely do such a thing accidentally should be subjected to the same penalty as someone who commits deliberate murder. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/251 "2014-06-27T02:53:28Z")
If you will permit me to amend… > [@Broomstick](#): > > ^ And _that_ is why 1) you need to take ANY media report with a grain of salt, and 2) there should always be an investigation of some sort when someone dies In any manner which could qualify as either accidental or deliberate, since it _requires_ an investigation to determine. Also when someone dies in a manner which could be self-inflicted or inflicted by someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/252 "2014-06-27T05:59:01Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t remember reading about that on the board here (but that could just be my crumbling memory) - have you ever shared the story with us? I started a MPSIMS thread > **[The time I landed an aircraft gear-up](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=727004)** > > I mentioned this in passing in another thread, and was asked for details. The aircraft was my own Grob Astir CS sailplane. It started when I arrived back at the airport with gobs and gobs of altitude. Like 10,000’ I needed to burn off. So I... ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/253 "2014-06-27T08:21:47Z")
I apologise for questioning the veracity of the previous poster who noted that there is a particular smell happening with babies locked in cars. Seriously. I totally apologise. What a horrible, horrible thing to happen to a wee kiddy. Now excuse me whilst I go cry in the corner. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/254 "2014-06-27T11:17:55Z")
It’s incomprehensible. This dad (assuming he’s not just an incredibly unlucky guy who happened to be having an office chat about animals in hot cars etc and is used to having a smelly car) has GOT to be a psychopath or something. A non-pychopath quickly drowning or suffocating their kid out of extreme emotion is horrible, but not humanly incomprehensible. One can see how someone might do that and be a (horrible, go-to-jail-forever) human being. Someone sitting in their office doing busy work knowing their kid is in agony in their car for eight hours? Incomprehensible. It’s not human. Kill it with a stick. But I don’t believe in the death penalty, so we need to invent a magic psychopathy pill real quick. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/255 "2014-06-27T12:24:19Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Considering one of the most recent cases of this involves a [father whose work computer was used to look up how long it takes an animal to die in a hot car](http://wreg.com/2014/06/25/source-dad-searched-how-long-it-takes-animal-to-die-in-hot-car-before-child-left-in-hot-car/) just before his kid died that way, I’m going with the OP not being a terrible person to think it’s sometimes deliberate. Nitpick: the OP didn’t just assert that it’s _sometimes_ deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/256 "2014-06-27T14:46:39Z")
I can not stop reading every single article and every single comment about stories like these. It’s like having a cut in my mouth–I can’t stop sticking my tongue in it to remind myself how much it hurts. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/257 "2014-06-27T15:56:23Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > It’s incomprehensible. This dad (assuming he’s not just an incredibly unlucky guy who happened to be having an office chat about animals in hot cars etc and is used to having a smelly car) has GOT to be a psychopath or something. A non-pychopath quickly drowning or suffocating their kid out of extreme emotion is horrible, but not humanly incomprehensible. One can see how someone might do that and be a (horrible, go-to-jail-forever) human being. Yeah, I keep thinking maybe he killed the kid quickly when he blew a fuse, then tried to hide it as a accidentally-left-him-in-the-car death, but the fact that he looked up how long it takes to kill a child that way…even more nauseating. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/258 "2014-06-28T01:49:53Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > But I don’t believe in the death penalty, so we need to invent a magic psychopathy pill real quick. See, **I** don’t like the death penalty due to the possibility of an innocent person being sentenced to it. But I have no moral qualms against it at all, and if I were on the jury in this man’s trial and the evidence supported the news report, I’d vote death in a heartbeat. This case reminds me somewhat of one in Texas from 1974. [Ronald Clark O’Bryan](http://murderpedia.org/male.O/o1/obryan-ronald-clark.htm). The “Candy Man.” Poisoned his son by putting cyanide in his son’s Halloween Pixy Stix to get $20,000 in life insurance. I would have voted it for him too. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/259 "2014-06-28T02:11:52Z")
You know, what gets me is the stupidity of murderers. The police services have very, very sophisticated investigative techniques, and extremely intelligent and seasoned detectives. Sure, this may not hold true everywhere, but investigative techniques and killer psychology have just exploded in the last few decades. I don’t know how anyone plotting a murder thinks he or she can get away with it today. Every time I hear about a random murdered spouse I assume it’s the other spouse who is responsible and 9 out of 10 times I’m correct. Murderers are fucking stupid. You don’t go out for an hour and come home to find your randomly murdered spouse. How in the hell did you expect to get away with that? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248/260 "2014-06-29T02:05:55Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > You know, what gets me is the stupidity of murderers. The police services have very, very sophisticated investigative techniques, and extremely intelligent and seasoned detectives. > > Sure, this may not hold true everywhere, but investigative techniques and killer psychology have just exploded in the last few decades. > > I don’t know how anyone plotting a murder thinks he or she can get away with it today. > > Every time I hear about a random murdered spouse I assume it’s the other spouse who is responsible and 9 out of 10 times I’m correct. > > Murderers are fucking stupid. You don’t go out for an hour and come home to find your randomly murdered spouse. How in the hell did you expect to get away with that? I’ve heard in the past that most murders go unsolved. Does that still hold true today? If so, then you have a better-than-even chance of getting away with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-forget-their-babies-in-the-car-on-a-hot-day/691248.md?page=14)