Thread: Parents to be charged for child’s death

FORT SMITH : Parents to be charged for child’s death in SUV

BY DAVE HUGHES

Posted on Tuesday, September 25, 2007

FORT SMITH — A city couple whose 22-month-old daughter died Saturday after being left in a locked vehicle are expected to be charged with misdemeanor negligent homicide today, Sebastian County prosecutors said.

Mirna Luz Marin, 30, and Jose Erubiel Marin-Mendez, 22, both of 1907 Waco St. in Fort Smith, were arrested Saturday.

Marin was released from the Sebastian County jail after posting a $ 10, 000 bond Sunday.

Marin-Mendez was being held without bond on a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold. A Fort Smith police arrest report said Marin-Mendez is an illegal alien.

The criminal complaints were sent to Sebastian County circuit clerk’s office Monday afternoon but were not filed by the end of the business day.

The couple left Estrella Marin in their sport utility vehicle after arriving home from church about 2 p. m. Saturday, according to an affidavit by police detective Kris Deason. They and Marin’s three other children, ages 12, 10 and 5, went into the house, leaving the toddler in a car seat in the SUV.

The windows and doors were closed, Deason’s affidavit states.

“Both Jose and Mirna stated they believed someone else had gotten Estrella out of the vehicle, but neither actually checked to be sure,â€

We've had several cases like that out here......spanning all ethnic and economic classes......and I still, for the life of me, cannot understand HOW someone forgets their baby in the car. And it seems to happen more all the time. It's tragic and unimagineable.

Are people really becoming so rushed, distracted, and self absorbed that they're forgetting to take their kids out of car seats, for Pete's sake?