The Toyota Camry of Death
Wanna hear an awful story?
Well, the other day, this woman left her six month-old baby in the back seat of a Toyota Camry, when it was like 95 degrees outside, and it ended up burning up. They did tests on the car afterwards and they said it was about 127 degrees inside, but that was after people busted the windows out and shit. At the time the baby died, it could've been over 140 degrees in there.
I know... I told you it was an awful story.
According to a report in the Post-Dispatch the other day, the baby's mother was late for a meeting at work and didn't have time to drop it off a the sitter's. So she parked the car, with the baby in it, outside her job at the hospital. Then she called the baby's father and told him he needed to pick up the baby and take it to the sitter's.
Apparently, the baby's father didn't realize what was going on (and I'm sure it would have been unfathomable to him anyway), but he ended up taking his sweet little time getting over there. I can't remember what time it was when the woman left the baby in the car, but it was after noon by the time he got there.
In the meantime, some passers by realized what was going on and tried to bust the car's windows out in order to save the baby, but it was already too late. I'm not sure how long a six month-old baby can last in a car that's 140 degrees, but however long that is, the baby was in there longer than that. So the baby ended up dying.
Last I heard is that the police are still investigating and have yet to decide whether either of the parents will be charged with anything. This sort of thing has actually been happening fairly often ever since they made it illegal to let your baby ride in the front seat with you, lest it get knocked right the fuck out by an air bag. Parents are only actually convicted of a crime about half the time, and even then it's the rare occasion they actually do any time.
So maybe these poor bastards are gonna get lucky and won't have to go to jail or anything. Lord knows they've already suffered enough, what with their six month-old baby burning to death in a car that was damn near hot enough to cook a White Castle (remember, I hold a certificate in food safety - it's one of my life's few achievements).
But that's not my concern here. My real concern is... come on, let's face it, this was all the woman's fault! I mean, I'm sure it's important for the guy to put on a united front here and not put the woman through any more grief than she's already going through; but I'm sure in the back of his mind he's thinking, "Damn, this insane beeyotch just burned the fuck out of my baby with a Toyota Camry!"
If I was him, I can't say for certain that I wouldn't pull a P. Diddy and try to get a separate lawyer for myself, but then you 'bags know I'm a heartless bastard like that. Still, I think it's obvious to anyone who looks at this case that this was the work of a single individual and not a group effort. Shit, for all I know, there could be a baby burning to death in the back of my van as we "speak," but obviously it's not my fault if I'm not the one who put it there.
