An Alabama grandfather is facing charges after his 2-year old grandson died from being left in a hot car for seven hours.
On Wednesday, The Oneonta Police Department said in a statement, “An investigation is still ongoing pertaining to the death of a 2-year old male child. We are currently working together with Blount County Sheriff’s Office, Blount County DHR, and Blount County District Attorney’s Office.”
It was reported that relatives found the child inside of a care at a daycare just after 3 p.m. local time.
“However, the child was not under the supervision of the daycare facility,” police noted, adding, “A family member transported/found him deceased around 3 PM at the local facility.”
Officers believed the toddler was left in the car for hours.
Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey became emotional as she spoke about the case in a news briefing on Wednesday.
“While the child was discovered dead at a daycare, he was taken there in a vehicle and the daycare employees have no connection to his death,” Casey clarified.
Authorities identified the grandfather as 56-year-old Bill Wiesman and the deceased as 2-year-old Ian Wiesman.
Casey said, “Wiesman picked up Ian and went to work but left Ian in the car. Wiesman returned to the truck on three occasions and drove the vehicle throughout the day. This indicates he always thought he took the child to daycare.”
“He then returned to the daycare, thinking he had left the child there. I do want to note that the child’s car seat was forward, not rear facing,” Casey concluded.
“So as a result of his behavior and his act, the child died from a prolonged exposure to heat,” said the District Attorney.
Casey wasn’t clear on Wiesman’s bond amount. At the time, he was at the Sheriff’s Office and would later be arrested and charged.
He has since been charged with reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Casey, who is a mother to a 2-month-old and 3-year-old, fought back tears as she shared her reaction to the tragedy during the press conference.
“It’s awful when it happens anywhere. It’s awful when you have to work these cases, and you go home to your babies and you see what you see and videos. It’s awful. My heart breaks for this family. This family is very upset about what happened.”
“As a mom, I don’t think anybody ever understands it. I didn’t sleep last night. I don’t understand it,” said Casey.
It was determined that their was a lack of substantial evidence to prove that Wiesman suffered from dementia.
Ian was inside of the truck for seven hours on Tuesday, when temperatures got as high as 90 degrees.
Wiesman told police, “I went home for lunch around 12:45 p.m. and stood next to the truck to smoke a cigarette while I played a cell phone game before going back to work. I got a call from my daughter around 3 p.m., asking where Ian was at. His aunt had gone to pick him up, but was told he never arrived. I was convinced I dropped him off and drove to the daycare to double check.”
“Upon arrival, Ian’s aunt came out to the truck and found Ian deceased in the back driver’s seat of Wiesman’s truck,” documents from the District Attorney’s office said, according to the news station.
He went back to the truck 3 times during the day and even drove it and they think that’s proof that he innocently thought he dropped him off?
Uh…those actions actually make him look more guilty – of knowing the kid was in the truck since he’d have to have seen him, especially in his front-facing car seat…am I missing something?
I say give him the death penalty in the same manner the child died!!
This ba_tard deserves the death penalty!!!