Cops: Man Left Baby in Hot Car Then Put Her in Refrigerator

Michael Thedford has been charged with manslaughter
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 22, 2016 6:34 PM CDT
Cops: Man Left Baby in Hot Car Then Put Her in Refrigerator
Michael Thedford   (Collin County Sheriff's Office)

A Texas father of three has been charged with manslaughter after police say he left his 6-month-old daughter in a hot car for hours then put her in the refrigerator, Reuters reports. Michael Thedford, a 33-year-old unemployed teacher, dropped his 3-year-old and 5-year-old children off at daycare Tuesday but forgot his baby daughter was in the back seat. According to Fox 4, his daughter wasn't going to daycare Tuesday because she had a fever. Thedford drove home and fell asleep while his wife was at work. Police say the baby was left in her carseat in the family's car for four hours in 90-degree temperatures. When Thedford finally discovered her in the car, she was "stiff" and "hot as a brick."

Police say Thedford put the baby in the refrigerator "for an undetermined amount of time." He then called 911 and attempted CPR on his daughter. The baby was unresponsive when deputies arrived, and Thedford was arrested, WFAA reports. “Forgetting a child? His child? It’s hard to believe because how can you forget a child in your own car?" a neighbor asks CBS DFW. Thedford was released on $20,000 bond, and an attorney says he believes Thedford was "overcharged." “It sounds like his actions were very much as a parent that was living out their very worst nightmare,” the attorney tells Fox 4. Sixteen children have died in hot cars this year in the US. That's more than double the amount at this time last year. (More child left in hot car stories.)

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