Tennessee child left in hot car dies, father facing reckless homicide charge

COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. ( WATE ) — An Athens father is facing multiple charges including reckless homicide after his young daughter was left in a hot car in Hamilton County for hours on Monday, according to court records.

An affidavit of complaint explains that Collegedale Police Chief Jack Sapp pulled over an SUV on College Drive East after he observed the vehicle driving erratically and noticed the driver holding an infant in his arms. The document states that when the SUV stopped, the driver got out of the vehicle with the child in his arms and told Sapp that he needed medical help for his daughter, who was unresponsive.

The father handed the girl to Sapp, who noted that she was unresponsive, limp, and her lips were blue, the affidavit states. As he placed her in the front seat of his patrol vehicle, three nurse practitioners approached and offered to help. They began CPR on the girl, and one of the women reportedly told Sapp that the child may have been left in the vehicle throughout the day.

The document states that the father, identified as Timothy Blackdeer, told Sapp at one point that the child was left in the car all day while he was at work. The girl was taken to Erlanger Children’s Hospital where she was pronounced dead. The affidavit said the girl’s body temperature was over 105 degrees.

During an interview, Blackdeer reportedly told officers that he had taken his three youngest children to their babysitter early that morning before going to work at a jobsite in Collegedale. The affidavit said he explained he didn’t hear anything in the car during his drive, and where he had to park for work was a 10-minute walk from the site. It wasn’t until 3 p.m. when he got a call from his wife asking where their daughter was that he ran and found her in the vehicle.

The document also explains that the mother had gotten a text from the babysitter shortly before she began work that only two of the children were dropped off but she didn’t think anything of it because she thought the girl may have stayed home with her older siblings. The mother called the older children after picking up the children from the babysitter’s and was alerted that the youngest girl was not at home, which prompted the mother to call Blackdeer.

Blackdeer is facing charges of reckless homicide, aggravated child abuse and neglect, and driving on a revoked or suspended license.

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, around 40 children die each year from heatstroke after they were left or became trapped in a car.

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