Vegas toddler dies in hot car after father stopped cops from breaking window as he couldn’t afford repair bill
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: A one-year-old child lost her life after her father accidentally locked her inside a car and refused offers to break the window, claiming he did not have money to pay the repair bill. Sidney Deal was arrested and held at the Clark County Detention Center as he faces one count of child abuse or neglect causing substantial bodily harm charge. The incident reportedly happened on Monday afternoon, October 5, when Sidney left his daughter - Sayah Deal - inside the vehicle. However, when the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers patrolling near the 1700 block of H Street, near Owens Avenue, west of Martin Luther King Boulevard, offered to help the 27-year-old in getting his daughter out, he rejected the proposal. An officer proposed to call a locksmith, a tow truck, or to break the window, but Sidney did not let them help him. He instead used the officer’s phone to call his brother for help.
According to The Las Vegas Sun, after the continued refusal of the father, officers eventually smashed the window of the car and rescued the unresponsive toddler, who died at the scene, police said. Sayah’s cause of death is still not known, but authorities believe she was inside the vehicle for over an hour. Meanwhile, investigators probing the case interviewed the accused’s brother who told them about the phone call he got from Sidney. The brother immediately rushed to the scene and wrapped his shirt around his hand and offered to break the window, but Sidney stopped him saying the air conditioner was on. The arrest report stated that the father also asked his brother to call their mother to ask her to send a locksmith from her insurance company. He also claimed that he could not afford the repair bill. Investigators also spoke to Sidney’s girlfriend, who told them they had a fight and she asked him and his daughter to leave the apartment, police said.
While Sidney said that after making Sayah sit inside the car, which he claimed was running with the air conditioner on, he went back to the apartment and argued with his girlfriend. He reportedly convinced her to give his phone back to him. The woman said after getting his phone back, Sidney again returned and asked her if she could make a call to his insurance company because he forgot his keys inside the vehicle. According to the girlfriend, she called the insurance company at around 3:06 pm and spent more than 20 minutes on the call, but she had to cut the line after Sidney said he would not pay the price quoted by them. At 3:29 pm when cops offered help then also he rejected. It has been said by that time, the girl was trapped for nearly 42 minutes. Also, it was not immediately clear how long it was by the time the window was smashed to rescue the infant. But when she was taken outside the car, police said her lifeless body had already gone into rigor mortis.
In another incident, a mother in Florida forgot to take her child outside the car, which resulted in her death. Megan Dauphin was allegedly high on meth and left the infant inside the hot vehicle. The 30-year-old was taken into custody on an aggravated manslaughter charge as she allegedly left the toddler in the vehicle for several hours on a 38-degree day in Panama City.