Young boys die in sweltering SUV

Brothers, ages 3 and 5, were in the car for five hours
Wednesday, July 9, 2003 Posted: 8:10 AM EDT (1210 GMT)


LANCASTER, California (AP) -- The foster mother of two young boys who died after being left five hours in a sweltering sport utility vehicle was arrested for investigation of child endangerment.

Leslie Sue Smoot, 48, was booked late Tuesday night and held on $100,000 bail. No court date was scheduled.

Sheriff Lee Baca said earlier Tuesday that those responsible for leaving the children in the car would be charged with child endangerment and possibly manslaughter.

"Vehicles are not playpens," he said. "Vehicles are not baby sitters. And vehicles, when they are not properly ventilated, are death traps."

Smoot told authorities she left the boys, ages 3 and 5, in the car around 9 a.m. outside A Child's Place Daycare, which she ran.

"She indicated she thought someone else was going to get the children out of the car, possibly her husband," Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Al Grotefend said. "There was some miscommunication."

Smoot told investigators she discovered the boys in their car seats when she returned in the afternoon and pulled them from the vehicle.

The 5-year-old was dead. His brother, who was severely dehydrated, died a short time later at a hospital, sheriff's Sgt. Paul Patterson said.

Afternoon temperatures hovered around 100 degrees in the high desert town about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Officials from the Department of Children and Family Services said they will investigate.

A woman who answered the phone at A Child's Place Daycare declined to comment. Friends and parents gathered Tuesday at the 24-hour day care center.

Naeemah Edwards, whose daughter attended the center, told KABC-TV she was shocked.

"They come in with my daughter, and they play together," she said, adding that she would not let her child to return to the center.

Maybe I am totally wrong, but I would like to see that woman locked in a car until she died from the heat.

Sadly this happened 3 times in the Twin Cities last year.

lovemachine said:

What the fuck is wrong with people???

Maybe it is just me, but I ALWAYS keep up with my son... there is a zero percent chance of anything like this happening if a person is even slightly caring and responsible. Anyone who kills their kids by leaving them in the car like that should be tortured to death.

I always thought it was more like a five percent chance, but I guess I could be wrong.

I don't even have words for this

too unthinkable

the fuckup of a lifetime. unbelievable

IceNine said:

my wife and I are absolutely vigilant when it comes to taking care of our girls, as every parent should be. probably a few too many things on her mind, like the pretty SUV for example. maybe that's not fair of me - but that's the image I have in my mind

:OMFG: unfuckingbelieveable!!

altho..i took a call from a woman last week at work who was hysterical!! she had locked her 3 month old baby in the car...that wasnt running and had no ac on...they ordered an embulance code 3 (the fastest they go ) for that baby...unfortunately, i never found out what happened with that call...which alotta times i don't...and that sux.

i just dont see how that kind of thing happens...i dont see how people can be that irresponsible, neglegent (which is prolly more that case here) or just plain STUPID enough to think "ohh...theyll be fine...i just have a few things to do" sigh...

i just am speechless.

IceNine said:

People like this shouldn't be allowed to procreate...there is no excuse for this.
Those poor kids. I just hope they didn't suffer.

I agree with everything posted.

It would be great if there was a test before you could breed. If you fail the test, no kids for you.

Applekisses- "you hope they didn't suffer"?

They died in a hot car, it's obvious they suffered.


[This message was edited Wed Jul 9 7:33:28 PDT 2003 by Slave2daGroove]

It's amazing! I don't even have a child of my own but regularly take care of my boyfriends kid. You do not need to have read Dr. Spock to know that young kids can not lose or deal with heat like an adult. If a small kid even feels a bit too much sun it will burn irritated and tends to cry. How would they possibly "enjoy" hours in a hot USV and come out unharmed. And the woman runs a daycare centre - jeeez

This kind of thing happens every summer Ice. It's sickening, but some people were never meant to have kids or even look after someone elses kids. Some people have no common sense and some don't care about anyone else but themselves. It also indicates that she was their foster mother. Now I am NOT saying that ALL foster parents are bad, but most are just in it for the money and don't give a rats ass about the childrens' welfare.

Slave2daGroove said:

Well, no, not necessarily...they could have passed out before actually dying...which is most likely the senario.

Oh, and PS: don't be such a prick.
[This message was edited Wed Jul 9 8:08:14 PDT 2003 by applekisses]

The sick thing is--this kinda shit happens all the time. A faculty member at the university I attend did this to their kid a few years back. And this person was a friggin' college instructor!!!

Stupidity knows no boundaries...

DudeDrops said:

Yeah and he got off with no charges...he said he didn't know the kid was in the car. It was the parking structure by Manoogian.

applekisses said:

niiice

violett said:

I know...it made me sick too...our justice system at work.

Is additional punishment really needed for the self-imposed sentence of horror and guilt that will torture this woman for the rest of her life? It sounds like a monumentally tragic mistake. Shameful and horrible.

I do feel that all such cases should be carefully investigated to for signs that the parent or guardian acted maliciously.

TheMax said:

But what if she does not feel any guilt???

Nikster said:

That's where a careful investigation becomes necessary. I would ask, conversely, what if it was simply a tragic case of horrible forgetfulness?

"She indicated she thought someone else was going to get the children out of the car, possibly her husband," Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Al Grotefend said. "There was some miscommunication."

There you go. How terrible... it very well could be true. Her husband or the "other person" was going to be there to take them from the car... the mother got busy at work, thinking if the person didn't come, they'd come in there and tell her about it.

Maybe they got really hot and fell asleep... otherwise there's a chance the 5-year-old may have been able to get out and go inside? Or is that just too young? I don't know...


[This message was edited Wed Jul 9 19:52:05 PDT 2003 by INSATIABLE]

Same thing happened in Detroit last year. A young
mother went and had HER HAIR DONE for a couple of hours!
2 kids died in the heat of her car.

Violation of children...nothing worse!

This sort of things happens multiple times across the country every summer. What amazes me most is that people are still so ignorant of the dangers of doing this.

This is so fucking unneccessary. Fucking bitch. I agree Ice... leave her in a car with the windows rolled up and let her fucking die.

Well, duh! She was from California and all...

the whole mentality of eye for an eye makes me sick

some people think problems get solved killing more people

garganta said:

Some people just don't need to continue living... let's say, for instance, that this woman willfully allowed her kids to die in the car... fuck her. She shouldn't get to live because she took the lives of two other people... I can dig the old testament at times.

Did the children not no how to open the doors? Doesn't make it any better but children also need to know survival skills (how to dail 911, open doors, run to neighbors etc)

IceNine said:

But shouldn't we kill all murderers then? And when do we not kill those who has taken the lives of other people? Let's say this woman did not willfully allowed her children to die, she was just in (unbelievable) negligance... now what?

I agree with garganta.