GUILTY NC - An'niya Miller, 4, twins Asia & Bry'asia Sheppard, 2, die in hot car, Nov 2000

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FOREST CITY, N.C. - Two-year-old twin girls were dead and their 4-year-old sister was flown to a hospital Friday after the three were found in their mother's car, authorities said.

"They had gotten into the car and could not get out," Rutherford County Lt. Detective Billy Scoggins said.

The girls got into the four-door Honda that was parked outside the family's townhouse near Forest City. The sister was unconscious when she was found and flown to Mission Hospitals in Asheville where she was in critical condition.

<snip>

more at the link http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/15985215.htm
 
i don't want to play the blame gaem here, we have all turned our backs for a minute and our kids may have been hurt as a result, but why didn't she notice they weren't in the house? maybe she just used the bathroom and they were gone and she was looking elsewhere for them?
 
Why don't parents just keep their cars locked (good habit to get into) and keep the keys out of reach of the kids? It's dangerous to leave your car unlocked for the kids to even get into....
 
2sisters said:
i don't want to play the blame gaem here, we have all turned our backs for a minute and our kids may have been hurt as a result, but why didn't she notice they weren't in the house? maybe she just used the bathroom and they were gone and she was looking elsewhere for them?


Because she wasn't actually at home, maybe?

Dorothy Moore, who said she is the girls’ aunt, said Miller is a single mother who had worked a late shift Thursday at a restaurant.
Moore got to the town houses soon after police arrived. She said she understood from other family members at the town houses that Miller had been asleep before the girls were found.
Scoggins would not say where the mother had been. The Department of Social Services planned to interview her Friday night.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661110093

Did she, i wonder, leave twin 2 year olds and a 4 year old home alone? just asking . . . there again, why would her car be home and her not?

tragedy all round, whatever happened.
 
This is so sad! I think that sometimes we, as parents, allow ourselves to fall into a false sense of complacency with our kids. We trust that they are old enough or smart enough or educated enough to know certain things or to follow directions they have been told many times before.

Just recently, my six-year old niece was playing outside with her older siblings. She came in the house sweating and crying about 15 minutes later. While her siblings were involved in another activity, she had gotten into the car to get something and shut the door behind her. Now, she knows perfectly well how to open the door to get out, but the metal handle was so hot that she could not touch it. She said she tried to use her hands, a brush that was there, and finally, she found a rag that she could wrap around the handle so that she could open it. Her exact words were, "I saved my own life today." My sister was hysterical. She loves her kids beyond words and would be inconsolable if anything should happen to one of them. Needless to say, she now locks the doors to the car each and every time she gets out.
 
Floh, I took the article more like the mother had a sitter for the kids while she worked overnight (or maybe they spend the nights with a family member as someone I know works things). Then after coming home from working all night, the mother went to bed. I know a mom who does just that, although her daughter is 9 not 2. Even so, the kids need supervision as is now so blatantly obvious. What a shame. :(
 
How sad. I have a 4 year old daughter and twin boys that just turned 3. I know how fast they get into trouble.... but if she was sleeping that is inexcusable. I'm sorry but if you are working late and know that you are going to be tired, other plans should have been made to take care of the children. I know that some people do not have those resources but you can't just fall asleep!!! I do not know exactly what happened but I know that even when I'm wide awake my kids like to get into "adventures" and I could never fathom trusting them enough to take a quick shower let alone a nap! I pray for the mother and for the precious 4 year old... I hope that she makes it through this...
 
Megs said:
do not know exactly what happened but I know that even when I'm wide awake my kids like to get into "adventures" and I could never fathom trusting them enough to take a quick shower let alone a nap!
I know, I have 8 month old, almost 9 moths twins and I do not trust them at all. I have missed days bathing b/c of them. I just can't see going to slepp like that, but then agiain i am not a single mom, working to support a family on my own so I can't relate.
 
When my children were toddlers, I would literally take them with me when I took a shower. I would buckle them into their carseats and have them on the floor coloring (and peeking my head out of the curtain to play peek a boo) or whatever just so I could shower. But I am lucky enough to have been a single mom when my daughter was very small so I only had one child to keep an eye on then. I was with my husband when my other 2 were born and then I stayed at home with them. Taking a shower is not the same thing as trying to stay awake after working all night to support your family though. If the mom had stayed at home with her kids, they might all still be alive. But if you have no income (we don't know yet what is the deal with dad), you either go on welfare, mooch off relatives, go to a shelter or find a job. Welfare doesn't last forever; you still have to look for work. If this mom was trying to do the best for her kids and take care of them on her own, she obviously loved them. Maybe it is as simple as they were all sitting on the couch watching Dora and the mom drifted off from exhaustion and the kids got bored and went exploring. That is why I installed a dead bolt at the very top of my entrance door when my son was young. He was an escape artist and I didn't trust him not to try to go out and play in the middle of the night while we were all sleeping. Either way, this case is a horrible tragedy that this mom will have to suffer with forever. I can't imagine her pain. :(
 
this is very, very sad. Prayers for the mother. She needs them :(Just as an aside, something I noticed is that the three children all had unique names... the twins were Asia and Bryasia. I have never heard those names for children before. I think they are nice names. I feel so bad for the little ones and what they must have felt like. :(
I wonder if they had child locks on the inside of the doors??
 
Sad but a lesson to be learnt. Never leave cars unlocked as we had a case here where the mum went to sleep and the toddlers were all burnt to death playing in the family car.One child got a lighter and BOOM! Sad and tragic all round but kids need to be supervised . People have to take responsiblity for their children and watch them . Little kids are into everything.
 
kidzndogznme said:
When my children were toddlers, I would literally take them with me when I took a shower. I would buckle them into their carseats and have them on the floor coloring (and peeking my head out of the curtain to play peek a boo) or whatever just so I could shower. But I am lucky enough to have been a single mom when my daughter was very small so I only had one child to keep an eye on then. I was with my husband when my other 2 were born and then I stayed at home with them. Taking a shower is not the same thing as trying to stay awake after working all night to support your family though. If the mom had stayed at home with her kids, they might all still be alive. But if you have no income (we don't know yet what is the deal with dad), you either go on welfare, mooch off relatives, go to a shelter or find a job. Welfare doesn't last forever; you still have to look for work. If this mom was trying to do the best for her kids and take care of them on her own, she obviously loved them. Maybe it is as simple as they were all sitting on the couch watching Dora and the mom drifted off from exhaustion and the kids got bored and went exploring. That is why I installed a dead bolt at the very top of my entrance door when my son was young. He was an escape artist and I didn't trust him not to try to go out and play in the middle of the night while we were all sleeping. Either way, this case is a horrible tragedy that this mom will have to suffer with forever. I can't imagine her pain. :(
Great post!!!! I agree. We all (me included) want to automatically condemn the Mother for this, but when you put it like that, I can sooooo see how that could happen. When you're a single parent, you have to work. You have to put food on the table, pay the electric, keep your kids clothed and pay your bills. I've worked the night shift before, and there have been times where I just collapsed out of pure exhaustion.

Just knowing that the mother herself had to be treated medically for collapsing in despair and anguish upon learning of the situation says this was nothing more than a tragic accident. We are all human. Poor woman.
 
julianne said:
Great post!!!! I agree. We all (me included) want to automatically condemn the Mother for this, but when you put it like that, I can sooooo see how that could happen. When you're a single parent, you have to work. You have to put food on the table, pay the electric, keep your kids clothed and pay your bills. I've worked the night shift before, and there have been times where I just collapsed out of pure exhaustion.

Just knowing that the mother herself had to be treated medically for collapsing in despair and anguish upon learning of the situation says this was nothing more than a tragic accident. We are all human. Poor woman.
I couldn't even imagine what she must be going through. My prayers are with her.
 
2sisters said:
I couldn't even imagine what she must be going through. My prayers are with her.
Oh, I know. Honestly, I could not go on. My life would be forever ruined, and I just know that I couldn't possibly ever find happiness again.

The part that kidsndogsnme? posted about how they could've all been sitting on the couch watching TV and she just drifted off really sort of struck a chord with me. I pictured exactly how it could happen.

Now, me personally, I would've have extra precautions in the house, like a lock high up on the door that the kids couldn't reach, or whatever. But, I am SUPER protective, and have always been afraid of bad things happening. I am a worrywart. Always been super aware of accidents that can happen and crimes that can happen. Being here on WS has even made me more of a worrywart, LOL, just because I am so aware of horrible accidents and crimes. Maybe this Mom wasn't like this. She very well could've been a great Mother. If you're not necessarily so aware of all the bad things that can happen, then you're not going to be hyper-vigilante. I know many people who aren't hyper-vigilante like me, they just happily live their lives and are great parents, but don't live under the umbrella of worry all the time, and bad things never happen. I wish I didn't worry so much. I worry that I worry too much!!!! LOL, I'm inserting the Laugh out Loud here, but it's true. Poor lady probably had her door locked, but sadly it was within reach of the kids hands. So sad and tragic.
 
julianne said:
Now, me personally, I would've have extra precautions in the house, like a lock high up on the door that the kids couldn't reach, or whatever. But, I am SUPER protective, and have always been afraid of bad things happening.
I wouldn't call that super protective....I'de call it being smart!!! I have an 11 yr old and anytime I am in the tub, blow drying my hair, etc... I lock the double dead bolt...Not only does that give me a piece of mind that she isn't wondering out the house (she's high functioning autisic) but if you remember the BTK killer...one of the victims sons' answered the door and let BTK in...a double dead bolt is a must with young kids!!
 

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