Authorities In Jamaica are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an infant whose father – a police officer – left her unattended in his car for several hours after reporting for work. According to Jamaica Observer, the tragic incident occurred on the premises of the Black River police station on Monday.
The minor reportedly succumbed to her injuries two days later. And though, Stephanie Lindsay, the head of the police’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), confirmed the minor’s death, she could not provide further details about the incident.
However, WIC News reported the police officer forgot his daughter was in the car. He told investigators he had planned to drop the deceased minor at her daycare, but he forgot she was in the vehicle and drove straight to work.
He found her unconscious in his car after completing his eight-hour shift. In an interview with the media, the officer’s friends reportedly explained he forgot about his daughter in the car because he was under “a lot of work-related pressure.”
“He would not have left her in the car purposely, he is too much of a good father to do that,” a friend told The Star. “I know people are going to say she is a child and how could he forget, but sometimes even your phone is in your hand and you are looking for it.”
But Jamaican child advocate Betty-Ann Blaine said the incident was bizarre. “It is a very tragic and very disturbing case. It’s especially as we are told that the father is a police officer and the car was parked all day at the police station where he works,” Blaine said.
“Children die in Jamaica in a variety of ways, but in my many decades in working as a child advocate, I have never heard of an incident like this one. Sometimes you hear these things happening in other countries but I have never heard of a case like this one happening in Jamaica,” she added.
“Police officers are trained to be sharp, to be alert and to be very thorough, and so the question is how did he forget his child in the car for an entire day. We expect that a complete and thorough investigation will be done so we can get all the answers to this very bizarre story.”
