Who is Kristen Danielle? Virginia woman arrested after 11-month-old girl, dog die in hot car while she slept
YORK COUNTY, VIRGINIA: Kristen Danielle Graham, a 40-year-old Virginia woman, has been arrested for allegedly leaving an 11-month-old girl and a dog in a hot car, resulting in their death.
She has been charged with one felony count of child neglect and one misdemeanour count of animal cruelty, according to records from Virginia Peninsula Regional Prison, Newsweek reports.
How died?
The baby girl, named Myrical Wicker, was left in Graham’s care by her 17-year-old mother for two days. The dog belonged to Graham.
On September 12, Graham, as per a statement released by the Sheriff's office, Daily Mail reported, received a phone call from her friend at around 1 am asking her to bring cigarettes.
The person couldn't buy it for herself as she was caring for an old person.
She put the child and dog in the back of the car, went to a 7-Eleven to get the cigarettes and spent some time at her friend’s place in Newport News.
She then drove back to York County at 8 am and left the baby and dog in the car with the windows rolled up and slept.
At around 2.30 pm, Graham “woke up” when she received a phone call and went out to check on the dog and baby. Both the baby and dog were dead by that point.
Will there be additional charges for Kristen Danielle Graham?
Sheriff Ron Montgomery told Newsweek that officials are waiting for the baby’s autopsy results to decide if charges will be upgraded to homicide.
He also said that Graham has given conflicting accounts of why the child and dog were left in the vehicle.
Court documents show 80-year-old Paul Kudlaty brought the deceased infant to Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in a trash bag. He is not facing charges.
"We're still investigating how the child was left in there, but she clearly left with the child and dog," Montgomery said.
How hot was the inside of the car?
The sheriff added it was a tough case for the department as they don't usually deal with these situations.
He said that investigators are trying to figure out how hot the inside of the vehicle would have been before the two dead bodies were discovered.
"It was in the upper 80s here yesterday," the sheriff told the outlet. He said they are investigating and talking to expert opinions on what the potential temperature could have been.
Was Graham an abusive babysitter?
The sheriff mentioned that Graham would often babysit the child and care for her “friend of a friend’s baby”.
The Sheriff said, "She took care of the child on a fairly regular basis. Sometimes she would have the child for as much as a week at a time."
"Clearly, this was an awful scenario," Montgomery said. He added, "We don't know what it is in this case, but you can't leave children and in this case, a small dog as well, in the car."
Police officials have not revealed the name of the 17-year-old mother and information about the dog.
