Iowa: Baby Left In Hot Car Dies, Father Arrested For Child Endangerment
A 35-year-old Iowa man has been arrested on charges of child endangerment after he allegedly left his 6-month-old baby boy inside a sweltering car resulting in the death of the child. According to the Des Moines Register, the incident happened outside a barbershop located at 501 Euclid Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa Saturday evening.
It was around 7:45 p.m., local time on Saturday that Des Moines police officers responded to a call from the Broadlawns Medical Center. The hospital had called the police to report the suspicious death of a child that was brought dead there. Hospital authorities told officers that the baby was dead on arrival. Authorities later determined that the baby had died inside a car parked just outside the barbershop. Sgt. Paul Parizek of the Des Moines Police Department in a statement to the media said the following.
“The child was dead on arrival at the hospital, and it certainly appeared that the child had been dead for some time. It is unclear exactly how long the child was left in the car.”
The man arrested in connection with the death of the baby was identified as Lance Williams Sr. He has been charged on a felony charge of child endangerment resulting in death. Currently booked into the Polk County jail, Lance Williams Sr. is being held on a $25,000 bond.
After Williams returned to his car, he found the baby unresponsive following which he drove directly to the hospital where the baby was declared dead. According to Parizek, the heat index at the time of the day when the child was believed to be inside the car was around 95 degrees. He added that an autopsy will be performed in order to determine the actual cause of death. The autopsy might also prove to be helpful to find out how long the baby was left in the hot car.
It remains unclear why no one else noticed the baby inside the car even as it was parked outside the barbershop. Williams is scheduled to make a court appearance on June 22.
Meanwhile, in more disturbing news, there was another report of a baby left in a hot car not far from where the first incident was reported. This happened just a day after the first incident near a Cash Saver grocery store located on 1320 E. Euclid Drive. This incident happened in the afternoon at around 3:45 p.m. Officers responded to call which told them about a baby left in a hot car. Luckily, they were able to rescue the baby in time and the child survived. They have, however, arrested 24-year-old Alexis Montijo, the child’s mother for child endangerment. Montijo’s child was admitted to a local hospital. The condition of the child remains unknown at this point. Parizek added that the Iowa Department of Human Services is assisting them with the case.
If this wasn’t enough, another arrest was made in Des Moines after a woman identified as Katherine Schoeneich on charges of animal neglect. Katherine had allegedly left a cat and a dog inside her car while she went to have lunch at a restaurant. The animals were saved probably because of a crack in the window. The temperature outside at the time was an estimated 90 degrees. However, when officers pried open the doors of the vehicle to rescue the animals, the temperature inside the car had risen to over 125 degrees.
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