NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio — An Ohio man is accused of intentionally leaving his 1-year-old son in a hot car for nearly five hours, leading to the toddler’s death, authorities said.
Landon Scott Parrott, 19, of New Philadelphia, was charged with murder, endangering children and involuntary manslaughter, according to Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.
The child died Thursday after being left unattended in the car for five hours, the New Philadelphia Police Department said in a news release. The temperature was 87 degrees outside, WTOV-TV reported.
According to New Philadelphia Police Det. Capt. Ty Norris, at about 2 p.m. EDT they were notified by officials at Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital in nearby Dover that an unresponsive child had been brought into the emergency room by his father, WJW-TV reported.
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Attempts to revive the child failed and staffers told police that Parrott’s story was inconsistent with the child’s symptoms, according to the television station.
“Dad’s version essentially was that he found the child after he exited the restroom and the child was unconscious,” Norris said.
Detectives investigating the case confronted Parrott with new information and allegedly confessed to the crimes, WOIO-TV reported. Detectives showed Parrott surveillance video recorded across the street from the family’s apartment, according to WJW.
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“During the interview, it appears that this was not a matter of forgetting the child but was a deliberate act so as the child would not be a disturbance while in the house,” the New Philadelphia Police Department stated in its news release.
According to Kids and Car Safety, the death was at least the 23rd this year nationally and the first in Ohio.
Parrott was arrested and booked into the Tuscarawas County Jail, with bail set at $25,000, according to WTOV.