After a 1-year-old became trapped in her father’s new car, the only way to get her out was to break a window. However, according to reports, the father refused to allow anyone to do that.
As a result of the dad’s refusal to break the window, the 1-year-old passed away. The incident occurred on October 5, according to the Las Vegas Sun. The father, Sidney Deal, told his brother and the police that because the air conditioner was on, “the girl was OK.”
Toddler Dies in Hot Car After Dad Refuses Help
As the Las Vegas Sun reported, it was Deal himself who flagged down the police for help at 3:33 p.m. He told them that he had accidentally locked his keys inside his running car and that his daughter was inside.
As Deal’s partner was on the phone with their insurance company from 3:06 p.m. to 3:23 p.m. During that call, a representative offered to send out a tow truck, but at a cost, the Las Vegas Sun reported.
Deal told his partner to hang up the phone “because he didn’t agree with the cost.” The responding officer also offered to call a locksmith, again, Deal declined before using the officer’s phone to call his brother.
After what is believed to have been an hour in the car, police began to fear for the toddler’s wellbeing. In the end, Deal allowed police to break the window, but sadly, it was too late. Sayah was pronounced dead when she was pulled from the “high heat environment.” Sayah’s body had already gone into rigor mortis, police reported.
The father told investigators that Sayah was walking around the seats while trapped in the car. She eventually laid down on the floor, which Deal admitted he thought that meant she had fallen asleep. It’s unclear if the air conditioning was actually on as temperatures reached 96-degrees that day.
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Sayah’s mother, Mariah Coleman, said she learned about her daughter’s death after one of Deal’s neighbors called her. “If you loved and provided for your daughter so much, why did you let her die?” Coleman asked during the vigil being held in her daughter’s honor, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Coleman had seen Sayah for the last time about two hours before her death. “I haven’t heard from anyone in the Deal family since Sayah died,” Coleman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Deal was then arrested, booked, and charged with one count of child abuse or neglect causing substantial bodily harm. He is now being held on a $20,000 bond.
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