06 September 2007

Cecilia Jane Slaby

How does a parent (of a 2-year-old , no less) drive to work, unload their car, yet forget that their child is in the backseat!? H-O-W !?!?

That's exactly what Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby of Clermont County, Ohio did on 23 August. With temperatures outside in the 90s, one can only imagine how hot it got inside the car. As a result, 2-year-old Cecilia Jane Slaby roasted to death in that backseat.

It was announced this week that the mother will not face criminal charges. The county attorney said leaving the child in the car was "a substantial lapse of due care" but did not meet the definition of reckless conduct necessary for prosecution.

What. The. Fuck.!!?

You hear about this sort of thing way too often, yet it still just sickens me each time I hear about it. I don't have kids, but I can't even imagine forgetting that my dog is in the car when I drive somewhere, she is so at the fore-front of my mind when she is with me. I just assumed that parents went above and beyond that state when it came to their human children.

That this woman doesn't have to pay for causing the death of a 2-year-old child (her own, no less) is wrong on so many levels. While it wasn't intentional, her actions cost the life of a child. She should have to pay. And pay dearly.