Man Accused Of Leaving Granddaughter In Hot Car Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter
BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- A Baltimore toddler dies after being left inside a hot car on a scorching July day. Now city prosecutors have charged her grandfather in the death.
Meghan McCorkell has more on the charges against him.
A grand jury has indicted Anthony Towles for involuntary manslaughter in the death of his granddaughter after he says he forgot she was in the back seat of his car.
Detectives combed through the back seat of the pickup truck where they say 16-month-old Sabriya Towles died on July 5. Now the child's grandfather is charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Anthony Towels was supposed to drop the little girl off at the Highland Village Head Start Center. But investigators say Towles came back to his home on South Paca Street and fell asleep, forgetting his grandchild was in the car.
Towles slept for the next four hours. As time passed, the temperature rose to a blistering 88 degrees and even hotter inside the truck. When he woke, he went to pick up his granddaughter at daycare.
"He had been told that the child was never dropped off in the morning. When he ran back out to his vehicle, he discovered that the child was unresponsive in the back seat," said Cathy Batton, Baltimore County Police.
The medical examiner ruled the child's death accidental, but city prosecutors believe criminal charges are warranted. Some neighbors of the daycare center agree.
"You could probably just see in your rearview mirror if somebody's in the back seat of your car. So I don't know how you'd forget about something like that," said Derek Northrop, neighbor.
Others question the charges.
"It's family members. I don't think that's right. It was an accident. He didn't mean it," said Anthony Juarez, neighbor.
Now, as he mourns the loss of his granddaughter, Anthony Towles faces 10 years behind bars.
Towles has been released on $25,000 bond.
Experts say 42 children have died this year after being left alone in a hot car.
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