SC in the Canadian news

**JABIII** · 09-21-2021, 01:59 PM

South Carolina father whose twin boys died after being left in hot car won't be charged
Jeffrey Collins

September 21, 2021 2:36PM EDT
Twin deaths

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, left, and Coroner Nadia Rutherford, right, talk about the heat deaths of two 20-month-old twin boys during a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A sheriff said no charges will be filed against a South Carolina father whose 20-month-old boys died from heat after he forgot to drop them off at daycare and left them in his vehicle because he was under intense pressure at work.

Watching investigators interview the father was one of the most heartbreaking things Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said he has seen in his 46 years in law enforcement.

“He didn't mean to do it. God, he didn't mean to do it. He's got to live with that the rest of his life,” Lott said at a Tuesday news conference.

The father found his sons dead still strapped in their car seats late in the afternoon Sept. 1 after he went into the daycare in Blythewood and was told the children were not there, investigators said.

Brycen and Brayden McDaniel died from exposure to the heat as temperatures inside the SUV reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) on a muggy late summer day, Richland County Coroner Nadia Rutherford said.

The father worked at a nearby manufacturing plant and his mind was clouded by work problems that day, the sheriff said.

“The father was under some intense pressure at work that really had his mind somewhere else that day. In his mind, he really believed he dropped the two boys off at day care,” Lott said.

After a thorough investigation, the sheriff said what stuck in his mind was that interview with the distraught father, whose name he did not release since no charges were filed.

“The pure emotion that came out was not something you could fake,” Lott said.

The coroner said the deaths may have been prevented with alarms that sound when a child is left in the backseat of a SUV or if the daycare had called the family when the sons did not arrive.

Both the sheriff and coroner asked for prayers for the family and the community as they deal with the deaths.

“Everybody that was involved in this case has been touched by it. The Coroner's Office, the EMS workers, the dispatchers, our deputies have all went through counseling,” Lott said.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/south-c...rged-1.5594504

**JJ1965** · 09-21-2021, 02:03 PM

I cry for those kids, and I cry for the parents. I can’t even imagine how you go on living after that. Prayers to them all.

**Gander** · 09-21-2021, 02:16 PM

Nothing at my job will ever consume my mind like that. Prayers for those youngsters.

**darealdeal** · 09-21-2021, 02:20 PM

Wife got one of those things you plug in that goes off when they are still in the car seat. We never even hooked it up. You get so plugged in to checking the back seat... I sometimes get out of my truck and end up opening the back door.
I couldn't imagine opening it to see that.

**Biggie1976** · 09-21-2021, 02:22 PM

Our Tahoe gives an alert to check the back seat. This is a terrible thing.

**billyjack** · 09-21-2021, 02:26 PM

I’ve gotten on the interstate once or twice headed to work when I remembered I needed to drop one off, so I had to turn around.

I don’t think I would have forgotten my kids in the car. But I have found my car keys in the fridge more than once.

Terrible either way. I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself. Hope God can grant the parents some kind of peace.

**nitro5x6's** · 09-21-2021, 02:27 PM

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...Zq_F4g--NO4vkc

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

**Mars Bluff** · 09-21-2021, 02:28 PM

Society has changed a lot over the years. We've never had it easier yet we are miserably existing. That is horrible.

**Maggie Glover** · 09-21-2021, 02:31 PM

I remember a few years back with a female pediatrician who left two kids to suffer in her mini-van. Although upon closer review, they found more disturbing things about her treatment of her children and charged her. Do not read this story unless you want to be mad. However, I hope that Richland did their investigation to make sure everything else was above board. God's Peace to those children, the father, and the rest of the family. MG

https://www.autoblog.com/2016/03/21/...en-in-hot-car/

**Mobetter** · 09-21-2021, 02:41 PM

I absolutely cannot imagine the loss. It makes me sick to my stomach to read the article. Heartbreaking.

**Jozie & Me** · 09-21-2021, 02:56 PM

I took my toddler to work on more than one occasion. I started putting my computer bag in the back seat beside the car seat to make sure I opened the back door before going in the office.

in the last month I have missed the turn to go to school while talking to my teenage son, headed to my office.

I could not imagine the heartache of the parents or the suffering of those kids.

if it was truly an accident, no punishment will ever take the place of what they are doing to their selves over it.

**SCswampCAT** · 09-21-2021, 03:35 PM

I cant imagine. Prayers for the family. Ill second Jozie's last sentence.

**Smilee** · 09-21-2021, 03:37 PM

Not excusing the parents at all but when will auto makers install safety mechanisms to prevent these things from happening. IR sensor in the roof and ambient temp sensor combination that blares the horn and rolls down windows.

They get too hung up on not letting my truck idle for more than 60 minutes or allowing the cargo light to illuminate while in gear.

**Kioti** · 09-21-2021, 04:38 PM

Nobody believes they would forget but I know I'm very letting things slip my mind. I mean, I can be walking towards the door and tell myself to make1 sure I don't forget 'x' and 15 seconds later I'll walk right past it. I really could see myself forgetting. If I know I need to remember something, I generally try to place it where it cannot be missed as I walk out.

**sleytown** · 09-21-2021, 05:08 PM

I don’t post on here much but do like to come and look at hunting and fishing post. But y’all motherfuckers have got to be fucking kidding me that you need some sort of alarm that lets you know that your own flesh and blood is still less than three foot away from you. There’s no fucking way.

**Palmetto Bug** · 09-21-2021, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by Smilee

..... when will auto makers install safety mechanisms to prevent these things from happening. IR sensor in the roof and ambient temp sensor combination that blares the horn and rolls down windows.

Then the auto makers assume the liability of the sensor not working when a kids gets left in the car.

**TennDan** · 09-21-2021, 06:11 PM

Originally Posted by sleytown

I don’t post on here much but do like to come and look at hunting and fishing post. But y’all motherfuckers have got to be fucking kidding me that you need some sort of alarm that lets you know that your own flesh and blood is still less than three foot away from you. There’s no fucking way.

Reasonable post