Local Mother Won't Be Indicted

On August 25, I wrote about what I think was a sad rush to judgment on the part of some in our community. The object of condemnation was--and remains--a mother, assistant principal of one of the middle schools in our district, who, from all indications, accidentally left her child in the family SUV on a roasting day, August 23. The child died of hyperthermia.

Our Clermont County Prosecuting Attorney, Don White, a hardliner when it comes to crime, has decided not to indict Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby. White explained:

"She knows that her actions are what caused her child to die, or her lack of attentiveness...She'll live with that. And I can't imagine what I could do as a prosecutor to make it any worse for her."

White also pointed to Ohio case law which says that accidents in instances of hyperthermia are not criminal acts.

It's apparently Nesselroad-Slaby's intention to return to work from her paid leave of absence. But many in the community are saying that she should be fired. Many are also condemning White for his decision not to press any charges against her. Some are calling her a murderer.

It's tough for me to imagine that I would ever have become so consumed with my routine as to forget the presence of one of my children in the car. I'll grant that. And yet, many have been the times when, driving to say, the store, I accidentally headed to the church building instead. It's possible, I think, to get so caught up in our daily duties that we forget a sleeping child. Most days of the year, something like that could happen and the consequences wouldn't be so tragic.

Nesselroad-Slaby was evidently thrown off her normal routine on the morning of her daughter's death and concerned about a major presentation she was to give to the Glen Este Middle School faculty that day, forgot about her sleeping daughter.

As I mentioned in that previous post, I've never met Nesselroad-Slaby, but numerous mutual acquaintances have told me what a quality, caring person and what a loving mother she is. She appears to be devastated by this tragedy. Some things are simply accidents. This seems to be one of them.

I do know White. I'm president of the Corporate Board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Clermont County on which he also serves. While I don't know him well and we may see each other four times a year, at most, he has been a dedicated fund raiser for the organization, precisely because he cares about children and knows that the Boys and Girls Clubs do great work. I'm certain that if Don White thought that there was anything nefarious in Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby's actions, he would prosecute her to the full extent of the law.

Apparently, hyperthermia deaths are increasingly common among America's two-income households. Blogger Icepick, who lives in central Florida, notes the death of one child, the circumstances of which bear resemblance to our local case. In the comments on Icepick's site, Pastor Jeff of Conblogeration mentions that a similar death just happened in the Saint Louis area. Both point to a recent study that demonstrates a dramatic increase in deaths of infants since were made mandatory. The presence of the airbags in the front mean that child safety seats are in the backs of vehicles, where sleeping children can more readily be forgotten by distracted parents.

I'm praying that God will comfort the Slaby family.