Baby found dead in car outside Hooters
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 30, 2007 06:59 PM

A 17-month-old infant died after the boy was left in a car for at least seven hours in a parking lot of a restaurant Tuesday on Bell Road.

The baby's mother apparently planned to drop off the baby at childcare before heading to work at Hooters near 29th Avenue on Bell Road.

But the mother did not drop off the baby and went to work, parking the car with the child still inside. When the mother returned at 5 p.m., she discovered the baby after she got into the Honda Civic.

The baby was later pronounced dead.

Temperatures hit near 90 degrees today but the inside car reached more than 100 degrees, Tranter said. The car had tinted windows, so people parked next to the car probably did not see the child, authorities said.

Nobody has been arrested.

“These cases are reviewed as case-by-case scenarios,” Tranter said. He said it would take several weeks for the investigation.

Baby left unattended in car dies, mom arrested
Associated Press - October 31, 2007 10:24 AM ET

PHOENIX (AP) - Yesterday, a 17-month-old baby died after his mother apparently forgot to drop him off at a daycare center and instead left him in her car while she went to work.

Now, police have booked the mother, 22-year-old Ashly V. Duchene, for investigation of negligent homicide.

Police spokesman Sergeant Joel Tranter says Duchene was arrested after detectives learned that she allegedly had told family members recently that she didn't want to care for her son and wanted her freedom. However, Tranter says police don't believe the death was intentional.

Police say the baby, Ryan Gallagher, was left unattended inside the closed-up car for at least seven hours. The mercury hit 89 yesterday in Phoenix.

Paramedics and police were called after Duchene found her son unresponsive after ending her shift as a waitress at a Hooters restaurant near Bell Road and Interstate.


Information from: Jim Cross/KTAR-FM, http://www.ktar.com