Tuesday afternoon, a 9-year-old girl died after being left in a hot car while her mother went to work in the Galena Park area.
The child’s mother, who authorities believe intentionally left the child in the hot car for hours on end, was detained at the scene. However, charges have not been filed at this time.
OUR FIRST REPORT: 9-year-old girl dies after being left in hot car by mother during work shift near Galena Park
Wednesday morning, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office indicated that charges would not be filed until after the child’s autopsy had been completed.
To break down the unique and complicated legal situation posed by this incident, KPRC 2’s Bryce Newberry spoke with Ed McClees, a former Harris County prosecutor. Here’s how their conversation went:
Bryce Newberry: What could take so long in reaching a charging decision in a case like this?
Ed McClees: The prosecutors in a case like this want to take the time to make sure that they are getting the right call. They’re going to wait for an autopsy report to come in, so they’re not jumping to conclusions on what caused a death. While the initial thoughts from people may be, in a case like this, that it’s due to heat exposure, they don’t know; it may not be. And they don’t want to charge someone—if they’re doing their job correctly—with a very serious felony criminal offense if the child did not die from heat exposure like a lot of people think that maybe the child did.
So, they’re going to want to make sure that the investigation is done completely. And then, based on all of the facts in a situation like this, there’s a whole wide variety of potential charges that they could charge someone with. Everything from an aggressive charge of murder, down to an injury to a child, a manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide. And all of those carry very widely different punishment ranges. So, I imagine, if they’re doing this like they should and like they have in other cases in the past, they’re going to want to take the time to make sure they have all of the evidence before they jump to a conclusion.
Bryce Newberry: Would murder be an appropriate charge in a case like this?
Ed McClees: I’m going to guess that that’s an answer that they would get from a grand jury. There are different ways in which a prosecutor can initiate charges. A lot of times in cases like this, they will take the case directly to the grand jury to let them decide.
We see those in police shootings; we see those and murders that aren’t cut and dried and they have a self-defense aspect to [them], where the prosecutors will give the grand jury the decision. Those are 12 citizens, and they’ll say, “Here’s the situation.”
You could issue what’s called a “no bill,” which is where they decline to indict the case, and that pretty much kills the case there. Or they could be given a list of different charges and decide whether or not there’s probable cause that the person committed one of those charges, everything from murder on down to a criminally negligent homicide, endangering a child. Several other potential charges could apply, depending on the facts.
Bryce Newberry: Some people might say that this mom has kind of already paid the ultimate price, obviously losing her daughter. Will that make any difference in a charging decision?
Ed McClees: It should. She still bears responsibility if the facts bear out that she conducted herself in a way that is criminal. But I remember when I was a very young prosecutor, getting advice from a very senior prosecutor about a case that involved a child that tragically died in a situation. There’s nothing the criminal justice system can put upon that person that’s worse than they’re already living through with the death of the child.
The prosecutors weighed that against the fact that, if what the person did is truly criminal—and I have no idea if it is or not—but if it is, those criminal laws exist for a reason and regret doesn’t cancel out criminal intent.
These [cases] are sensitive. Based on the very little that I have been told about this, I don’t think anyone is going to claim that this woman went into her day wanting her child to die. As a parent myself, I can’t imagine a worse punishment than living with the guilt of knowing that you may have had something to do with the death of your own child.
Bryce Newberry: Anything else that we should address, anything else you want to add?
Ed McClees: It takes the medical examiner’s office a long time to do an autopsy. Then, the prosecutors need to see if there’s any follow-up type of testing that needs to be done from that. There could be situations where someone’s got a chronic condition, and they may have to get prior medical records. Then they may have to consult with other medical experts.
So, you know, we don’t know the answers to any of that. And it’s important for everyone to remember that this mother is entitled to the presumption of innocence for a reason. The evidence is not yet in. So, everyone, including the prosecutors, is well-founded to take their time and make sure this is done right rather than it being rushed.
