Published August 25, 2000
Will Anderson
The Atlanta Constitution
A DeKalb County woman who said she forgot that her 2-year-old grandson was in her car will face criminal charges for leaving him locked inside, where he died of heat stroke. Deborah Welch, 41, of Lithonia was indicted on charges of
involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct by a DeKalb grand jury Thursday. She was booked into the county jail under a $10,000 bond Thursday evening. The indictment accuses Welch of "consciously disregarding a
substantial and unjustifiable risk that her act would cause harm or endanger the safety" of her grandson, Hezekiah Silvester Welch. The
indictment says "this disregard did constitute a gross deviation from the
standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise." District Attorney J. Tom Morgan said it did not matter whether the
child's death was an accident. But he said the case is a prime example of why a child endangerment statute is needed in Georgia, the only state without one. "Reckless conduct will conform to this case, but it doesn't
specifically address abuse of children," said Assistant District Attorney Rachelle Carnesale, who will prosecute Welch. "We would like a
statute that directly addresses child endangerment." A charge of cruelty to children is Georgia law's felony offense for
child abuse. It requires a malicious intent to cause or inflict cruel and excessive physical or mental pain. A child endangerment law would cover reckless and dangerous conduct, Carnesale said. Welch has no criminal record and investigators found no evidence of
malice in the case, such as a previous history of child abuse, Morgan said. "That's why she's not charged with cruelty to children," he said. Welch, 41, found the toddler's body in her car at 4:15 p.m. Aug. 14
after leaving work at the Social Security office at South DeKalb Mall. The locked car with windows closed had remained in the mall parking lot since 7:30 a.m. Welch, who was the child's guardian, apparently forgot to drop him
off at a Decatur preschool and didn't realize he was still in the car when she arrived at work, police said last week. The child died from heat stroke after temperatures inside the vehicle
soared to about 135 degrees, Morgan said. Investigators estimated the likely temperature by placing a thermometer inside a car during the hottest part of day, he said. If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, a felony, Welch would face
one to 10 years in prison. Reckless conduct is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum prison term of one year. Authorities briefly were unable to find her Thursday because she had
moved to a relative's home.