Dad accused of leaving kids in car says he stepped into church for funeral

A Charlotte father is defending himself for leaving his three young kids in a car. Channel 9 learned one of the kids passed out after rolling his neck up in a window.

The father faces several charges including child abuse. But he told Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz he only left the kids alone for a few minutes.

Jonathan Redfern told Sáenz it happened when he was visiting a Baptist church in Charlotte’s Belmont neighborhood. Redfern was paying respects for a friend who died and so he went inside for a few minutes.

Redfern said he left the car running with the air conditioning on, but when he came back, his 2-year-old son John wasn’t breathing.

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“They mean everything,” he said.

Redfern said his kids are his world and he’s lucky John is still alive.

“Man I’m grateful, brother, grateful.”

He said he left John and his two other children, a 1-year-old and a 5-week-old, in the car when he stepped inside for the funeral. He said he had even asked a friend to keep an eye on his car because he would only be a few minutes.

But when he came back, Redfern said he was met with panic from a bystander.

“He was like, ‘Man, you need to hurry up, your son is stuck in the window,’” Redfern said. “Then it hit me — ‘oh snap.’ So I got in panic mode and ran to the car.”

He said John had rolled the window up on his neck, cutting off his airway.

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“You can still see where I was trying to pull it down,” Redfern said.

Eventually, John got free but had purple lips and wasn’t breathing. He was later revived at the hospital.

Police charged Redfern with child abuse causing serious injuries and two other misdemeanors. Court records said Redfern was seen on surveillance going into the funeral and not coming out until 15 minutes later.

He said that’s not true and that he’d never wish harm on his kids.

“I never, never, neglect my children or abuse my children,” Redfern said. “Come on, man.”

Redfern said he admits he made a mistake by not having his son in a car seat and takes responsibility for that.

Sáenz spoke with one witness who said it seemed like a simple mistake and one in which toddlers just move quickly.

(WATCH BELIOW: Mother arrested after 8-year-old dies from being left in hot car while she was at work)