GUILTY FL - Veronika Balta, 9 mos, dies in hot car at Gulfstream Park, 13 March 2004

As thousands of fans crowded into Gulfstream Park Saturday afternoon for a concert and the Florida Derby, a 9-month-old girl was dying alone in a car outside.

The baby's father, Antonio Francisco Balta, 27, was arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. He was being held Sunday at the Broward County Jail without bail.

Balta, while not employed by Gulfstream, worked as a groom for Nick Zito, a trainer whose horses race there. Attempts to reach Zito Sunday were unsuccessful.

Hallandale Beach police said the child was left unattended in Balta's car, but they would not describe how the baby was left there, how long the baby was in the vehicle or what Balta was doing at the track.

It was not clear who found the unconscious baby between 5 and 5:30 p.m. Hallandale Beach Fire-Rescue workers tried to revive her and took her to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, where she was pronounced dead.

The child's mother, Michelle Bashford, 22, was working as a waitress at the track's Royal Palm restaurant when the baby died.

Balta and Bashford, of New York, were seasonal workers.

Story from the Miami Herald

Did the baby die of heatstroke? How hot was it?

How horrible... that poor baby!!!! I hope he get L with NP.. piece of *advertiser censored*...

This kind of thing infuriates me! In my area last summer, this beotch:loser: left her 3 kids locked in her car for 4 hours while she got her HAIR done . There were signs that the oldest, a three year old, I think, climbed up and tried to breathe through a crack in the window. Her mouth prints were on the window!
In her statement, The Mother said she was "too stupid" to know they would die!

All I want to know is, will people ever learn??? Do they not watch the news and hear of the countless senseless deaths of these children? It makes me so angry!!

most of these are forgetfulness, not neglect. Each thought the other parent had the kid or the man got distracted at a crucial time. Ever leave your groceries in the car? To a man the kid and groceries are the same thing!

One woman was driven to distraction by sleepless nights due to her autistic son and she left her normal daughter in the car. Thats not murder, thats not neglect. Thats physical and mental exhaustion.

One woman left the kid outside where she could watch it while she earned a pittance as a waitress, she was so happy the kid was sleeping in the car... when she learned the truth she wailed piteously but she just never thought of the heat, she thought of a paycheck so she and her daughter would not be evicted the next week.

Sure there are parents who are indeed thoughtless. There are also inconsiderate people. Someone left a dog inside a parked pickup truck in my apartment building once and when the manager saw it, she sent a big, strong tenant to knock on the apartment door, a fight started. The dog-owner/new found friend of the tenant tried to join the fight and make it two against one and he drew a knife on the way to join the fight. So I told him "lose the knife" meaning that he could make it two against one if he wanted but he had to drop the knife. He didn't want to lose the knife. So I casually took dead aim right at where he didn't want to get shot and told him 'put that knife away and get back into that apartment'. We very nearly had a killing in the building that day. Situations escalate. Things turn out worse than people ever imagine over what they thought at the time was a trivial issue. The motorcycle bar had closed at 2:00am. but the two guys had stayed until about 4:00am. They probably parked the pickup truck in the apartment building's lot at about 4:20am. Leaving the dog all cooped up until the next morning was not good, even though it was not a particularly warm day. Its wrong to do it. Its wrong to turn a fight into two against one, its wrong to introduce a knife into a fist fight. If they had not left the dog in the truck, the rest would not have happened. But sometimes people forget and don't do the right thing.
It doesn't always mean they are evil.

Putting a mother in jail for seven years who has lost her kid in a parked car is not sensible; passing ordinances that make even a momentary departure from the vehicle illegal is not sensible.

I'd like to hear more about the circumstances: did he forget or did he not know of the risk. Remember one thing: these are itinerant and seasonal workers. The money is low and the hours are long. They would not be in these jobs if they had much in the way of smarts to begin with.

From March 2005:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...14_1_gulfstream-park-fort-lauderdale-sentence

A young father who left his baby daughter in the car while he bet on horses at Gulfstream Park was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for her death...

Balta could have faced up to 30 years in prison for the death of his 9-month-old daughter, Veronika. He pleaded guilty in February to aggravated manslaughter in hopes of a lighter sentence.

Click to expand...