while this mother will be reminded for the rest of her life of her negligence -everytime she sees one of her other children- I'm glad to see she'll at least be charged. whether she serves any time (in this case I hope not) is not at issue but at least get the paperwork on file.

there was no sign of intent to harm this child...don't you think the lose of her child is penalty enough. have you ever forgotten to pick up a child from practise or were late picking up or something that lucky for us didn't turn tragic. i am very sad for this family.

While I agree she should be charged as I support the law and agree with the law as it stands; I do not support the idea of a crowd calling for charging her. The public knows little about the law. The public cares little about their city, state, & country. The public votes more for American Idol than for a United States Presidential Election.

The public is generally stupid. When most people don't get involved in their state, they do not deserve a say in anything else that goes on here.

To vote is a simple task. I don't expect everyone to go to council meetings etc. I only expect a vote. That alone seems a lot to ask for unless we turn an election into a popularity contest.

While people will pretend to have opinions the truth is that she committed a crime and 'forgetting' a baby is not justification for it. I am the last to throw a stone. I only believe in upholding the law. I wouldn't waste my time being part of the lazy crowd.

This is a poignant reminder to all parents to remember that their child(ren) is the most important responsibility in their life.

what about the child that drown in the pond at sugarhouse park, you going to charge the family members for negligence too? while this mother left her child alone for two hours the family of the child in sugarhouse looked away for minutes

First we are prosecuting kids for cell phone camera pictures, next Mothers who accidentally leave their children.

Whats this world coming to? What Davis County coming to?

Remind me never to move to that police state.

I will throw a stone. The fact is that her baby died horribly painful death because of her. It is truly that simple; accident or not.

Everyone here wants to talk about the mother. What about the poor little boy who suffered a horrible death. A year from now the mother will be out of jail but the child will still be dead. He has been robbed of living a full and rich life while she will just get a slap on the hand.

This should be a felony.

This is not about how much she will suffer because she lost her child. No, she has NOT suffered enough already. She was willfully negligent in the care of an innocent child. In general, crimes are considered to be worse/more severe when they involve harm to an innocent child. This should be no exception. That child did not ask to be born to such a negligent mother. That child did not ask to be roasted alive like that. That child was tortured horribly. That mother deserves to be charged with a felony not only because her crime brought harm to an innocent child, but also to send a strong message to everyone that our society will NOT tolerate such inhumane treatment of children!

To sad story:

You are absolutely right, there was no intent to kill her child. That's why it's called a negligent homicide. Get it? Pretty simple.

To Sugarhouse park:

That's where it becomes hard to "interpret" the law and how to enforce it. Clearly, two hours is considered sufficient time to be negligent. How much time was involved in the Sugarhouse park incident? I don't know specifics, but would imagine it was anywhere from 2-10 minutes. What is the bright line? What should it be? Hard questions to answer, for sure.

If she has any motherhood in her at all, which I am sure she does. She has already been sentence to a life with out her baby and the enormous burden of being the cause of death. I can't imagine having to live with that. If it was me, it doesn't seem that anything could make you feel any worse. It might even feel better to be punished for it. It may relieve some of the pain and guilt.

However, I don’t see how you can move forward after such a tragedy and it sounds like very few people around here will ever let her live it down. I am grateful there is just one ultimate judge and it is not those people who are on the witch hunt to make sure she is charged.

There is no happy end in this case, no matter what happens

She will most likely not have jail time. I think they feel that they have to charge her, but know that it was an accident. As I have personally witnessed the pain of someone near to me that lost their child in a moment of inattention, I know that this mother will always have the real pain of knowing this tragedy could have been avoided.

I hope that people will learn from this that you can't leave your children in the car. It's not okay. That 10 minute chat/errand can easily turn into an hour or two and forgetfulness, then tragedy and unbelievable despair.

I wonder if the friend, at any point, said, "hey, where's the baby?" My friends knew when I had kids and if there were supposed to be with me.

A negligent Mother, yes. She should absolutely pay a price. She chose to be a Mother, she is responsible for her Children. It is a sad story but nevertheless the Mother is responsible for a Death of a Human Being, she must pay a price!

Obviously, the burden of being a responsible parent was more than she could handle so by default she has to own up to being responsible for his death.
She should be prosecuted. She had no business having children in the first place.

Hasn't she suffered enough?

I can't believe people are still doing this to their kids. There's no accidently here. Either you're a parent or you're not.

I agree with Random,

I have a friend with a young child and when she stops over without her I always ask 'where's little Brunhilda?'

Pretty much first thing as a matter of fact...

I remember Just a few years ago an attorney submitted a letter to the editor voicing similar harsh views towards the man who left his child in his truck while he was scouting out a hunting area. As many recall the child wandered off and died. You also remember he was convicted or pleaded out, I don't recall, and was supposed to serve some jail time. Instead he took his own life before starting his sentence.

The lesson learned is that parents who make those serious mistakes are sentenced to a life of misery and it serves no purpose to pile on.

I don't know whether this attorneys harsh "it's the law" rhetoric had an effect on this mans decision to end his life, but I know if I were in his place and read all the cries that equivocate "crucify him" I probably would have felt the same way about sticking around and having society remind me of it forever.

Why does everybody think that when someone dies their life is over? It's not the case! There's a God in heaven who is caring, loving and fair. This baby just lost a body but because of Jesus Christ, will have every opportunity afforded it during the Millenium. And I believe the mother will have the opportunity to raise this child there. I agree losing the baby in this manner is punishment enough. All the rest of you are judging wrongfully. It's only given unto us to judge good from evil! She had no evil intentions to murder this child. These type of cases need to be left for Christ to judge. This was clearly an accident of ignorance! I'm sure some of you are ignorant in some things too.

Does this mother have other children? I have one child and it was very hard to remember that I even had a child in the beginning. There were so many new things to remember that it took time to incorporate them all. I had class after class, thanks to my husbands work place that warned me of hot cars. I wouldn't have known if not for those classes! Have mercy please!

I commented on this a couple weeks ago after reading the article on this. Again in the article today it states, "She came out 2 hours later to find the boy unresponsive". How did she find the boy if she didn't know he was in the vehicle? I would think she would have just climbed in and driven off -- not knowing he was there, or did she have a recollection that her child was in the car when she saw the vehicle? At the point he would have been at when she returned, he wouldn't have been crying or making any sound that would alert her to the fact he was there.

While this is very sad, indeed, there still needs to be charges filed, and negligence seems to fit the bill. Yes, she will be haunted by this the rest of her life, but perhaps this will help her get her life in order, and may help her in the long run. If she is convicted, the courts can make sure she gets counseling, which I'm sure she needs after the loss of a child, and may not seek it otherwise.

"serves no purpose to pile on"? What a ridiculous statement. So if I shake my baby because I'm upset and the baby dies, don't I feel bad? Did I mean to kill the baby? No! Should society pile on so to speak? Of course, crime is crime. I hope the mother does feel bad, that doesn't mean she shouldn't pay for her horrible act of negligence.

Why do all the cry baby liberals think that we should roll over and not apply any laws because someone "feels bad"?!

If you remember the man who killed himself after being convicted of negligently leaving his son. That man has not killed any other children. If you don't want to watch children -- don't have children. The law is just, and the woman should spend some time in jail. Hopefully her other children will grow up enough while she is in jail so they can protect themselves from her.

I dont think that the little kid in this gets any justice. I dont think the attorneys are doing their jobs in proctecting people. She should have gotten a felony conviction. I mean she took a way a life! And all that they are doing is just a slap on the wrist??? It makes me think where else she had left her kid and "forgot about it". I really dont see how some one could forget their kids like that.

Oops, I left my child in a hot car and he/she died.
Oops, I dropped my baby on his/her head and he/she died.
Oops, I wasn't watching my child and he/she fell into a pond/pool and died.
Oops, I left my child tied to a tree in the yard and he/she died.
Oops, I crashed into a truck and ejected my child from my car because I didn't think he/she needed a seat belt.
THESE ARE NOT ACCIDENTS! These are the result of negligence and stupidity.
All these headlines would make for a great campaign for abortions in Utah. "Abort your child now, it's cheaper than killing them after $1000 worth of diapers!"

Also, does Davis County give mandatory classes teaching new moms and dads about the dangers of leaving their child(ren) in a car? And do they warn them that if they leave a child in the car and the child dies they will be charged with murder? Probably not! If they're going to do this it should be required to give mandatory classes.

When I was a child, I often was left in the car and when I was older, I chose to stay in the car rather than go into the store with my mom.

I'm still alive and so if I hadn't had classes warning me of the dangers, I might not have known to heed them. And getting children in and out of a car for every little thing is such a hassle. I can only see why she unknowingly would do it. I have compassion on mom and baby! I'm glad I know what happens in the millenium! I'm sure baby will forgive mom too! You need to forgive too!

Denice thanks for sharing your testimony...
This was no accident, because of the circumstances. She should be locked up!

I can kind of see your point, but you're missing the BIG point. I can't understand how you wouldn't know a hot car can kill unless you had heard it from your husband's work. How can anyone be so naive? Yes, our parents did stupid things, and most of us survived them. When I was a kid it was nothing to leave windows down, not that it was a deterrant and okay to leave a child. Now I wouldn't park my car in my garage with windows down and unlocked. We didn't have seatbelts - it's proven they save lives. Forget the mandatory classes. Maybe the mandatory classes should be before anyone had kids. I may have had second thoughts if I knew what I was up against, but my kids made it.

Yes, baby will forgive mom, and I'm sure others have. Still there's a responsibility and she stepped over the line. Will the punishment be just? The bible says an eye for an eye. Mom's negligence caused a child's death. The child didn't get in the car unnoticed - mom put him in then forgot him. Negligence on her part. She needs to take responsibility according to law.

I read through all the comments when there are deaths of children left in cars and people usually condemn or forgive. I found one comment of particular interest, the woman said she stopped by to talk to her friend and "forgot" her child was in the car. Did the "friend" forget her "friend" had a baby? No one I know that I am involved with doesn't know I have a child, and when he wasn't with me as a baby/toddler the first question ever asked was "Where is >>>>?"

Denice,

Whether or not there is another life after this one is irrelevant.

Should we be more lenient on Hitler because, after all, those people didn't really DIE, they just transitioned to another state of being?!

Your religious fanaticism is just the sort of thing to destroy good law and civil society. Keep your superstitions to yourself.

I am not relating a dog to this child but for example, I have a seven month old dog that I could never imagine leaving in a car at all, even when I do make a "quick " stop somewhere I am thinking about the poor dog being locked in a car whether it is hot or not. I also have children and cannot imagine how you could ever "forget" about a child! It is just too hard to beleive that this "Mother" could forget about a loved Child. This is a very sad story and this "Mother" should be looking at some serious jail time!!!

It's really sad that all the mother is going to get is a tiny slap on the wrist. Want to know what that tells everyone who wants to be free of there babies? "Leave you baby in the car and after he dies you can get away with it". Don't be surprised if more cases like this start popping up all over Utah now!!

i think they were right to charge her with negligent homicide. i also think it probably doesn't matter one bit to her, compared to her own conscience convicting her each and every day.

i feel so bad for her and her family. i hope this is a wake up call to all young moms about the danger of hot cars and leaving your kids places. we've all done thoughtless, stupid things; in this case the consequences were such that charges had to filed according to the law.

i'm praying for her and her husband and their family. and all the unkind remarks about abortion and people who "don't deserve to have kids" are totally out of place. being a mom is an exhausting 24/7 job and NO ONE is perfect at it. most of us just get lucky and our kids make it to adulthood, at which time we can safely stand on our soap boxes and judge others. that says nothing about those of you who've never even had kids, so really have no idea what you're even talking about.

I agree exactly with Fred's comments!

Whether or not there is another life after this one is irrelevant.

Should we be more lenient on Hitler because, after all, those people didn't really DIE, they just transitioned to another state of being?!

Your religious fanaticism is just the sort of thing to destroy good law and civil society. Keep your superstitions to yourself.

To "Anonymous Mom"
I think you meant to say in this incident that being a Mom is a exhausting 22/7 job.

While I do believe in life after death, I agree with Too Late. That is not at all relevant! The child may be at peace now, but what about during those two hours??? I cannot imagine anything more horrible! I think they are rightly trying this woman for neglegance-I remember exactly where my kids are before I remember if I got dressed that morning! Not that I am a perfect mother, but that is just basic. I am sorry to say that I have no sympathy at all for this woman. Anyone who would do something like this needs to be punished, if for nothing else, to warn other careless mothers to prioritize their job of motherhood.

She was neglectful.

A person died as a result.

Yup, sounds like negligent homicide to me.

Accidents happen all the time, and people are still charged according to their role in it no matter how guilty they feel for their mistakes. In most states, the punishment for such an action as this is negligent homicide. The prosecutors were right to charge her, and the charge is nothing out of the ordinary; it's the law, and what happened was a crime, whether the mother intended to harm her child or not. Of course she feels guilty, but her child is dead because she forgot about him for HOURS and he roasted alive inside of a hot car. The mother needs to take responsibility for her actions, no matter how badly she feels, and no matter how unintentional it was. I'd expect no less from the authorities if I were in her place, as badly as I'd already be feeling. Whether we like it or not, there are consequences for our actions - even for unintentional ones. Of course we shouldn't blackball her and treat her cruelly, and of course she deserves compassion, but she still does need to accept the consequences of her actions.

It's about time. Hope I don't have to keep reading these same stories of babies left in cars, over and over again.

What a ridiculous argument! Are you an adolescent? Your shaking example has no relevance to someone absentmindedly leaving their child unattended. One is a cognizant act of uncontrolled anger, the other is absentmindedness. You have no scale of mercy and justice or sense of perspective.

People like you should never be allowed to sit on a jury and if you teach your children such self righteous rhetoric, then maybe DCPS out to pay you a visit and ascertain whether you are a fit parent.

Do you recommend dragging her to within an inch of her life and then giving her blood transfusions to keep her alive for another dragging until you (self appointed god) thinks she's suffered enough?

DN ought to consider making a 30 IQ and a conscience as the minimum standard qualification to be able to post here.

The mother cannot go on without civil punishment. Her loss is indescribable but at the same time it is completely inexcusable

The facts were investigated. Negligence was shown and it cost a life. Nothing is more important than the safety and care of your child. No friend, no job, not ever! Every parent has felt at the end of their rope, but they find a way to do the job still.

The value of that child's life is priceless and the debt of the loss cannot be fairly re-paid by a punishment.

Nevertheless, The mother should be charged, and if she has other children, the state should be very concerned about their safety. The mother needs to pay some sort of penalty for this crime against a child. She needs training, counseling, and support.

The government trusts the care of little children to parents. This is a sacred trust. And when it is violated, as in this case, there must be a punishment.

The punishment serves justice. And the sentence and public attention serves as a deterrent to other parents who may need a wake up call to be more attentive to their kids as well.

Im not sure what a just punishment should be for this but how many times to we have to be told

"DONT LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN OR PETS IN A HOT CAR-THEY CAN DIE"

I don't think I ever forgot my child in the car. I did realize one day that I had passed the daycare on my way to work. I just turned around and went back to the day care.

I think that I would have noticed when I got to work that I had forgotten something.

Im just glad that I don't have to live with that for the rest of my life.

Here is some food for thought,

In Japan when there is a car accident between two people they charge both with being at fault, because if they hadn't been there it wouldn't have happened.

Too often I see people commit some act and try to get out of the comsequences.

Isn't that what being a mature individual is accepting the consequences of your actions?

She was there, she left her child, she forgot, her child died, the consequences don't change.

If you are an Adult in charge of a child, and the child dies in your care, as a result of you not taking proper care of the child. Then you need to be held accountable. If that means Jail Time then Oh Well. Nothing you could have been doing is more vital then the proper care of your child. If you have a child with you there should be no place you need to go that you cannot take the child with you. To leave a child in a locked car windows up no air not even a crack and the Temp goes only in one direction and very quickly. It is a painful frightening Death. All that child wants his mommy who is supposed to be protecting him. In the end he just wants air, something to drink, his body temperature is going up fast and kids do not have much reserve. She killed him and it might as well have been with a Gun it would have been quicker and far less painful. I am sick of "well do not be Hard On Her because the memory will be with her", It Should Be.

If this had been a paid care giver instead of the Mom, she would have wanted the person punished to the fullest extent of the Law, and spent the rest of her life as a victim of someone else’s child neglect. However it the Mom and she forgot. How does that happen. She didn’t forget to lock her car up tight. If a person was passing by and saw the child they should have called 911 and then Broken The Window. Then she would have come storming out wanting that person punished, that she was only gone a moment. Well how long is a moment. Someone’s Eternal Companion is Dead, and there is a slight ripple in the way things should be as opposed to how they are going to be now. Most likely No One Will Notice. God Will!!! When she sees this child again he can ask her, why did you leave me in the Car to Suffer and Die? What was so Vital that you could not take me with you. That you closed me in a Hot Coffin while still alive. Yes she needs to do time. I would say max the law allows.

Pittsburgh Ute, your comment that "the government trusts the care of little children to parents" is a horrific example of the stupidity of the far left. Where, exactly, does the government get the little children they loan out to parents?

Surely, parents are the only ones who have little children to entrust. And it is our right as parents to decide whether we trust the government, or not.

How could you forget your baby in the car.. I don't feel sorry for her. I have 2 kids and the first thing I do is take them out.. She deserves more than 1yr.. 1Yr ain't gonna do anything. I feel so sorry for that baby he was probably crying because of the heat while his mom was in a house freash worry free. What kind of mom was she?

Charging the mother is the right thing to do in this case. How could she possibly "forget" her child strapped in a hot car for two hours? It's beyond belief.

What is this about having the opportunity sometime in the here after to raise a child again?? She already had her chance and failed!! Anyway to think that a child would die and then either stay a child in spirit to conveniently wait for her mother to raise her again, or to be a grown up spirit and then become a child again is just make believe.

RE: Pittsburgh Ute | 8:20 p.m.
"The government trusts the care of little children to parents. This is a sacred trust. And when it is violated, as in this case, there must be a punishment."

I am so astonished by your comment I am not sure what to say. The government does NOT entrust me with the care of MY children. What is this China? The Soviet Union? Are you kidding? Have we "progressed" so far into socialism that this is what the next generation believes.

In this country the government is for the people by the people. That means the government grants me nothing that I don't already have the God given right to. The government does not entrust the care of my children to me any more than my neighbor entrusts the care of my children to me. You need to read our constitution and study up on it's core principle, its called liberty.