Published March 16, 2002
Carla Redden
The Ledger-Independent
GEORGETOWN, Ohio - Brown County authorities are investigating the death of a 3-month-old child who died Thursday afternoon in Ripley, Ohio after apparently being left alone in a car for hours.
According to a press release by the Brown County Prosecutor's Office, the infant was left unattended by his mother in her car for several hours while she was at work at PCP Champion. The mother, Heather Phillips of Maysville, told authorities she forgot to drop the child off at daycare Thursday morning and didn't realize the infant was still in the car. Phillips has two other children who were dropped off at daycare around 9 a.m., Prosecutor Thomas Grennan said. "Apparently, at the daycare center, the infants are in one building and the toddlers are in another," Grennan said. The child was discovered by Phillips at about 5 p.m. as she was leaving work. Investigators believe the infant was "probably" in the car since 9 a.m., but Phillips did not arrive at work sometime between 11:30 a.m. and noon, said Grennan. The Ripley Life Squad responded to the scene within minutes after the infant was found and immediately took the child to Brown County General Hospital. Attempts by the life squad and hospital emergency room staff to resuscitate the child were unsuccessful. The child was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital at 5:35. Phillips was taken into custody and questioned by police authorities. She was released pending further investigation by the Brown County Prosecutor's Office, along with the Ripley Police Department and Brown County Coroner Dr. Timothy McKinley. McKinley ordered a post-mortem exam of the child's remains. A preliminary autopsy report available Friday afternoon indicated the child's death was consistent with hyperthermia. More details are in today's print edition of The Ledger-Independent. Click here to subscribe.