Toddler Dies After Father Leaves Him in SUV
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Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A consulting company manager left his newly adopted son sitting in a sport-utility vehicle in a Herndon parking lot for much of the day Tuesday, killing the 21-month-old child, police said yesterday.
The boy, Chase, was adopted three months ago from Russia, police said.
Miles Harrison, 49, of Purcellville was charged yesterday with manslaughter. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Dave Zorger, owner of Herndon-based Project Solutions Group, where Harrison is managing director, said someone went to the front desk at the end of the day Tuesday and told the receptionists about seeing something in a GMC Yukon with tinted windows parked outside.
"They said, 'Hey, Miles, is there something in your car?' and he went running outside," Zorger said.
Herndon Police Chief Toussaint E. Summers Jr. said Harrison was supposed to take Chase to day care. Instead, Harrison drove to work, and Chase sat in the SUV outside the building, in the 500 block of Herndon Parkway, for "at least several hours," Summers said. Exactly how long remains unclear. The high temperature Tuesday was about 90 degrees.
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Zorger said Harrison arrived at work at the real estate consulting firm "sometime in the morning," and police said they received an emergency call about 5 p.m. that someone was performing CPR on an unresponsive child.
Summers said authorities think the manslaughter charge is appropriate. The investigation is continuing, he said.
"You can't leave a kid unattended," he said.
Summers would not say what investigators think happened. "Manslaughter is simply the unlawful killing without malice," Summers said. "It's really hard to know what was going on in Miles Harrison's mind at that point."
Zorger said he did not know whether some distraction might have contributed to the boy's death.
"I wish I knew the answer to those questions. Those are the same things I'm asking myself," Zorger said.
John Alexander Gomez, who works for a financial firm in the same green-and-gray building in the Herndon office park, said he was leaving for the day when he saw paramedics put the child's limp body in a white bag.
"That's a terrible death ... with the heat. When I got in my car at 1, my steering wheel, you couldn't touch it," Gomez said. "To me, that's proof right there. You can't do too many things at once."
Evelyn Rivas, who works in the same building and has a 6-year-old daughter, said it was unthinkable that she would be in Harrison's situation. "I have a kid, and I don't think I'd forget they were in the car," Rivas said. "It seems to me a lot of people do it. It doesn't make sense."
Harrison was taken to a medical facility after rushing out to the child, and he was to be taken into custody there yesterday, Summers said.
Tagged: crime, police, Purcellville
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Posted by OhTheHumanity (anonymous) on July 10, 2008 at 8:14 a.m.
Absolutely incomprehensible. I just don't understand how you can forget about your child?! To think about what that little boy must have gone through in that sweltering car is truly heartbreaking.
Posted by KMDoodle8 (anonymous) on July 10, 2008 at 9:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No justification here. Keep in mind that this child was newly adopted. Perhaps there was a change in routine. I dunno. It's a horrible tragedy, any way you look at it. All things aside, it's the parents' responsibility to care for their child. Period. This is a case where one of the parents did not. BTW I am the father of 2. I can recall, when my first was *very* young, repeatedly going out to check my car at work all morning. Kind of an OCD thing. But, both of my kids have made it to 14 & 9 because of it...
Posted by teden (anonymous) on July 10, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To OhTheHumanity...
What kind of a heartless monster are you to accuse this poor father of doing this on purpose so he wouldn't have to pay for a babysitter?
Throw your computer away, you don't belong on the internet.
Posted by JasonJ75 (anonymous) on July 10, 2008 at 2:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Obviously the guy had a huge mental lapse. I doubt he did this on purpose. He will experience enormous guilt and shame the rest of his life.
Posted by glastonbury (anonymous) on July 10, 2008 at 11:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
JasonJ75 - yawn ... Explain what you +think+ happened
Posted by OhTheHumanity (anonymous) on July 11, 2008 at 5:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Constantly allowing trolls to spew their hate and bile filled "opinions" under the guise of discussion and debate makes me wonder why the WP bothers to "report" local news.
Posted by AFF3 (anonymous) on July 11, 2008 at 6:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
JasonJ75 wrote: "OTH, What kind of a heartless monster are you to accuse this poor father of doing this on purpose ...?
Throw your computer away, you don't belong on the internet."
------------------------------------------
Think what you want about me, but I have never killed any children, leaving them in a car to bake, unintentionally or otherwise.
Posted by OhTheHumanity (anonymous) on July 11, 2008 at 7:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The guy wasnt a parent.. he adopted and tried to become a parent. He should have taken some classes and been responisble. I hope he is found guilty and locked up forever. Good riddance mistake or not.
Posted by PaulBreault (anonymous) on July 11, 2008 at 3:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Obviously, he spaced out and went on auto-pilot the minute he strapped on his own seat belt. After 10 mins, he forgot completely about the baby in the back. The daycare trip wasn't yet a routine so he goes about his day, never realizing that at the end of the day, his life would change forever and his new son would be gone.
That is truly tragic.
Posted by mnbucklew (anonymous) on July 11, 2008 at 4:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am russian and I just found out that Russian Prime-Minister Putin decided to stop letting international organization (mostly American) to adapt children from Russia. Would you like to know how many Russian adopted children got killed for the past 5 years? It is a shame, and I strongly believe that he would never forget his own child in a car. some children just do not need to have children. At 49 people have grandchildren. They had everything, just needed a little Russian toy to play with. Also, do you know why would you send a newly adapted child to the daycare of your wife is a homemaker?
Posted by tatiana.tanya (anonymous) on July 11, 2008 at 10:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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