GUILTY ID - Patrick Graber, 15 mos, dies in hot car, Orofino, 4 July 2007

Liz

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Last updated: Friday, July 06th, 2007 06:23:05 PM

OROFINO, ID -- The death of a 15-month-old boy locked in an SUV Wednesday evening in Orofino has prompted a number of questions and a lot of outrage.

The tragedy has a lot of people asking how something like this is possible, an expecially difficult question for the child's father, Patrick Graber, who hopes some sort of awareness will come out of his heartache.

"I just want people to realize that you can't do that," Garber told KXLY 4's Annie Bishop. "Kids are number one priority. Don't leave them in the car, even for five seconds."

Rita E. Johnston, the boy's step-grandmother who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony injury to a child in the case told police that she forgot the child was in the car and fell asleep. She was arraigned on Thursday and is currently being held in Clearwater County Jail with bond set at $15,000.

More at link & video
http://www.kxly.com/news/?sect_rank=3ion_id=561&story_id=12576


This happened in Orofino, not far from me. I was not going to post this story, after first hearing about it Thursday. The more I thought about it, this heartbreaking story needs to be read by as many people as possible, in the hopes that it may save even just one child's life.

I kind of feel for the step-grandmother, because I'm sure she is in her own hell right now, due to her stupidity. Yet it truly infuriates me at the same time because I just can't understand how ANYone could forget they have a child with them!

There are suggestions in the article to prevent
'forgetting' a child; like placing your brief case, purse, wallet or something that you will not forget to take when you get out of the car, in the back seat with the child.

My heart and prayers go out to baby James' parents and other family and friends.

RIP, sweet baby James
 
I don't care how much I had on my plate at the time...I had four kids under the age of 6 and I KNEW where they were 24/7. They WERE my first priority! Even if they were asleep in their beds, I checked on them regularly and without fail! I made certain they were breathing ok, covered, warm, dry, and accounted for!

My grandsons are no exception! When they are with me, they become my world. I run tirelessly chasing them from room to room to insure they are safe and free from any dangers they could encounter accidently. Leaving one in the yard alone for even a few seconds would never happen...let alone a vehicle! At night, I am as attentive as I was with my own. I get up and check on them religiously. There are NO excuses!

Stories like this make me boil! They should be criminally charged as far as I am concerned. Anytime you leave a child ANYWHERE and have the audacity to say, "I forgot"...you are guilty of child endangerment and guilty of abuse. How is it any different than the crack *advertiser censored* taking drugs and not remembering she has a child? Forgetfulness is NOT a defense! Neither is drunken stupor, drug induced state, or carelessness!

This was preventable. Someone should have realized this person wasn't responsible long before she was allowed to leave a baby unsupervised in a vehicle!
 
i dont understand that either ... my kids are always on my mind because i love them so much ... i dont understand how someone could forget a child.. im sure the lady feels horribly for what happened tho in no way would i want to be her ..
 
I know what you mean, Seriously!

The step-grandmother was charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony endangerment to a child.

Not that it will bring back little baby James though.
 
What I want to know is how do you NOT see the child when you get out of the car/SUV. It's not like their in the back of a bus. No one can have THAT much on their mind that causes them to forget their own or a child in their care. "I forgot"....just is no excuse.
 
What I want to know is how do you NOT see the child when you get out of the car/SUV. It's not like their in the back of a bus. No one can have THAT much on their mind that causes them to forget their own or a child in their care. "I forgot"....just is no excuse.

I know, yet the article said that "I forgot" is the excuse 40% of the time!

Baby James was such a little cutie-pie! That pic of him in the news article is 10 months old. They have been showing more updated pix on CNN Headline News. Seemed like such a happy little baby, too!

Such a senseless tragedy that should never have happened!
 
I think it's time the gov't makes that alarm (detecting movement inside after the car is off) mandatory in all cars.
 
Here is another one:
EATONTON, Ga. — A woman was arrested for leaving her 4-year-old son in a broken down van on the side of the road for about 14 hours, authorities said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288529,00.html

Thank God, he was 4yo and smarter than his parent!

"Thank goodness he opened a door," Sills said, adding temperatures soared into the mid-90s that day.
 
Here is another one:
EATONTON, Ga. — A woman was arrested for leaving her 4-year-old son in a broken down van on the side of the road for about 14 hours, authorities said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288529,00.html

Thank God, he was 4yo and smarter than his parent!

"Thank goodness he opened a door," Sills said, adding temperatures soared into the mid-90s that day.
This doesn't make sense either. She thought he was in another car. Well the child surely was in the vehicle when she got in. Driving down the highway...she still didn't know he was there? Where was the mother for 14 hours???? And why didn't she know where her son was???? Sometimes people are so stupid....:doh:
 
Here's another one:

2-Year Old Dies After Being Left In Hot Car
Authorities Say The Child Was Left For Five Hours

STORM LAKE, Iowa A 2-year-old boy died after his teenage uncle left him in a car for five hours as temperatures soared, authorities said Friday.

The child's uncle, Noe Vargas, 18, was charged with child endangerment causing death.

He picked up his nephew, Steven Saavedra, from his sister's house on Thursday afternoon, police said.

The child wanted to get into his mother's car in the parking lot, and Vargas left him inside to play and walked to his home
nearby, police Capt. Todd Erskine said.

Eta: http://wcco.com/topstories/topstories_story_187235329.html
 
These kind of cases happen alot where I live, unfortunately. It's interesting because these cases do not all end up with the parent being prosecuted. Two cases that happened last year stand out in particular. In one, a single mother of 3 kids left her baby in the hot car and he died. She was a poor mother who lived in an undesireable part of town. She went to jail. In another case, a family of 7 or 8 was returning home from church and left their baby in their Suburban in their upper middle class neighborhood and the baby died. Yet, the parents weren't prosecuted. Although the news channels showed the despair and heartbreak that the single mother and the other parents endured and that both situations were not intentional in any form, the local media depicted outrage towards the single poor mom and extreme sympathy for the upper middle class family.
 
Disgusting. How do you forget your kid is in the car?? Throw away the key.
 
leave your purse in the back seat with the child.... something important you wont forget.... here is a idea. make the child the important item....
 
I heard on this evening's news that Rita Johnston, the child's step-grandmother, will be arraigned tomorrow. She waived her preliminary hearing.

Also, last week the results of her drug test were released and she was found not to have any drugs in her system, at the time she left baby James in the SUV.

I can't help but feel for this woman. She's got to be living in her own personal hell right now. I can't even imagine how something so horrific must make the guilty party feel; let alone to be facing criminal charges.

Prayers for all those who loved and cared about sweet little Patrick.

Edited to correct the baby's name. For some reason the name "James" got stuck in my brain.

RIP baby Patrick
 
http://www.klewtv.com/news/8364622.html
In a probable cause affidavit, investigators said, after police found the dead child in the SUV, they found Johnston at a nearby residence. They said she told them she had forgotten she had the baby with her and that she had fallen asleep at the home she was located at. She also reportedly told investigators she had taken prescription medications that day. According to investigators, she also told them she should be arrested.
Police said they found five bottles of prescription medications in her vehicle after they interviewed her.
=============
more @ link.
 
From the news last night --- at Rita Johnston's arraignment yesterday, the Judge entered a "Not Guilty" plea in her behalf.
 
leave your purse in the back seat with the child.... something important you wont forget.... here is a idea. make the child the important item....


I was thinking the same thing!!
Like a briefcase or purse would be less likely to be forgotten then your child??
 
leave your purse in the back seat with the child.... something important you wont forget.... here is a idea. make the child the important item....

I was thinking the same thing!!
Like a briefcase or purse would be less likely to be forgotten then your child??


In a perfect world --- exactly! But, anyone who's been around the Websleuth's block more than once should be well aware that this is far, very far, from a perfect world!
 
Trial set following Johnston's silence

Asked by Judge John Bradbury, 2nd District Judge, how his client intended to plead, Attorney Jack Hathaway responded, "She intends to remain silent."

With that, Bradbury entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Rita Johnston, 33, the woman facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and felony injury to a child in the death of her 15-month-old step-grandson. The trial has been set for January 7, 2008.

~snip~

If convicted, Johnston faces a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine, 10 years in prison, or both, for Count I, involuntary manslaughter. On Count 2, felony injury to a child, the maximum sentence is 10 years in prison, with a minimum of one year, a $50,000 fine, or both.

More** http://www.clearwatertribune.com/Current Weeks Homepage/July1907.htm


Thought I'd post this after I read the thread about the two men who received very different sentences, for this same type of offense.

My heart and prayers go out to Patrick's family and other loved ones, who are suffering his loss.
 

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