Minnesota dad who killed 4-year-old son after he intentionally left him in a hot car for six hours jailed for one year
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA: A father was sentenced to a year in jail after he left his 4-year-old son in a hot car that caused the latter's death.
Kristopher Taylor, 26, was handed down his jail term on Friday, October 11, after he pleaded guilty to the second-degree manslaughter of his son, Riley in the parking lot near CHS Field in St Paul, Minnesota on May 4.
Taylor told the authorities that he failed to find childcare for his son during the time he was supposed to work at the Grill Fest event and hence, he had to resort to leaving the victim inside an SUV with a video game to keep him occupied. He even cracked a window, which he thought will be sufficient ventilation to keep the young boy comfortable, KARE11 reported.
After the father returned from work nearly six hours later, he found his son was unresponsive and stiff. Taylor rushed the victim to Regions Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"I miss my son, I miss him a lot, and no one can hate me more than I hate myself," Taylor said, as he stood before Ramsey County Judge Robert Awsumb Friday before sentencing. "I think about it every day... to go back and change what I did... every time I breathe, every time."
Riley’s mother Julie Juers asked the judge to consider a non-custodial sentence. "I know Kristopher is sorry... he never intended for things to go the way they did," she wrote in a victim's impact letter, which she read out in the court. "Every bit of me knows this was not intentional."
Although the judge agreed with Juers, he imposed a one-year sentence on the accused. "Everything I've read describes you as a terrific father up to that day," the judge said.
Taylor's sentence would include six months in jail term, followed by six months of electronic home monitoring. He was also ordered to undergo grief counseling at the insistence of the Juers and work with probation officers.