Joseph Boatman: Dad who had been drinking charged with murder after leaving toddler in car for nine hours
A father has been charged with murder after his one-year-old daughter was found alone and unresponsive in a vehicle as temperatures rose to sweltering levels.
Joseph Boatman, 32, had allegedly consumed “multiple alcoholic beverages” before he went to pick up his 21-month-old daughter from a relative’s house about 2.30am.
Police say he strapped his daughter into her car seat and then returned to the house in Madisonville, about 65kms outside of New Orleans, Louisiana.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.A family member found the toddler in the vehicle just before noon on June 8. It is believed she had been left there on her own for about nine hours.
Temperatures had reached around 35C but the heat index, or ‘feels like’ temperature, was around 40C.
On a 30C day, the temperature inside a car can reach as high as 70C, with most of that temperature rise happening within the first 15 minutes of the door being closed, according to KidSafe.
“This is a devastating loss that no family ever wants to face,” St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith said.
“When a child is left in a vehicle, especially on a day when the heat index climbs over 100 degrees, the outcome can turn deadly in a matter of minutes. This case involved compromised judgment, and the result was heartbreaking.”
“After strapping the toddler in her car seat, Boatman went back inside the residence and never returned to the vehicle,” the agency wrote in its release.
“It was also learned that prior to Boatman arriving to pick up his daughter, he had consumed multiple alcoholic beverages.”
Mr Boatman is in jail on a AUD$1.1m bond.
US non-profit organisation Kids and Care Safety reports the tragedy marks the fifth death of a child in a hot car in the US this year.
