Why do mothers keep doing this?!?

[Merryg]

Tot saved from hot SUV; mom is arrested
Katie Warchut
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 13, 2003 12:00 AM


A 38-year-old mother was arrested on suspicion of child abuse Saturday after passers-by rescued her 18-month-old son, who had been locked in her vehicle for 30 to 40 minutes.

The child, who was treated at Phoenix Children's Hospital, was released to his father.

Two customers at a Costco at 44th Street and Thomas Road in Phoenix noticed the child alone in a black Chevy Suburban just before noon and called 911. The vehicle was not running. Because one of the tinted windows was cracked a few inches, one of the customers was able to unlock the door from the outside.

The mother, Tammy Wray-Hawkins, recognized her child when he was rushed into the air-conditioned store.

The boy was sweating profusely and in severe distress, police said. Saturday's high was 112 degrees.

Wray-Hawkins was booked into Madison Street Jail. She is an attorney, according to police. The State Bar of Arizona lists a Tammy Wray as a member of the Maricopa County Public Defender's Office.

"I don't know why she did this. She really had no logical explanation for this," Phoenix police Lt. Tony Morales said.

Her vehicle bore a child abuse prevention license plate.

Saturday's rescue comes on the heels of two similar incidents in Tucson.

Car temperatures soar dramatically in the desert sun.

On a 93-degree day, the interior of a car will reach 125 degrees within 20 minutes, said Dr. Kevin Reilly, who teaches medicine at the University of Arizona and is an emergency room doctor at University Medical Center. Within 40 minutes, tests have proved that a car's interior will reach 140 degrees, he said.

"It's an extremely dangerous practice to leave your children in the car. Even if you think it's only going to be for a couple of minutes," Reilly said.





The Associated Press contributed to this article.


I just don't get it?!?

[tiffany21]

I don't know why they keep doing this when will they learn. :mad:

[mom2cvam]

:( That poor baby!! I wish people would learn! I'm really glad that passers-by got involved and him out in time! wth was she thinking leaving a baby alone in a vehicle?!?!?! :mad:

[Hollie1974]

:mad:

[miccit]

That is just awful. It gets so hot inside of a car so fast.

:(

[okie]

:(

[schsa]

As much as the mother did this you then have the problem of taking the mother out of the house and putting the child into some sort of foster care. I don't know what the suitable punishment should be but it worries me how these children might end up either left in the home or left in foster care until the mother has been released.

Maybe we should just lock the mothers in the car for a period of time and see what happens when they can't breathe and are in distress.

[Candice]

Originally posted by Ravenlost
I think they need stiffer punishments for this! It's INSANE to leave a child in the car...EVEN IF IT ISN'T HOT OUTSIDE. Never EVER would I have gone into a store to shop and leave my children in the car.

They need to really start laying some heavy punishment on this type of crime.
I totally agree with you! A woman out here who killed her two foster sons was released from jail 3 days after she killed them. :mad: It's crazy... I don't think these stupid mother's will ever learn and they definitely need stiffer punishments!! Maybe then they would learn something...

[Iluvbears]

Her vehicle bore a child abuse prevention license plate.

The one's who advertise against something, are the first one's to do it.

[Johnsmom]

When it's this hot, I don't even let my kids play outside very often. When they do, it's with the hose or the kiddie pool (and lots of sunscreen). People often get sun stroke and heat exhaustion from being outside in this weather. Being in a car, especially out in the sun is 100 times worse. You can actually burn yourself on seatbelt buckles after parking out in the sun. If that mom is an attorney, I wonder how she got through law school and passed the bar with such a pea brain.

[MelanieAnn]

This just makes me cry. I can't imagine how any mother could do this, or anything to harm their child. I would just die if anything happened to my babies. :(

[suzziq03]

I live in AZ and I wont even leave my dog outside in the shade cuz its so darn hot here!
all these "mother's" dont have a clue what being a Mother is. This ticks me off more than anything!
WTH is going on with people now days and their common sense??!! :mad:

[hotwheelstx]

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

That's all I can say really...........How irresponsible can anyone be?????

[mom4angels]

This is really a sick thing to do to a child. I agree that they should lock the mother in the car in the heat and see if they like it.

[the1bea]

I dont know why parents leave their kids in hot cars. This happened 2 weeks ago in town. the parents left the kids in the car while they went to a restraunt and ate. My dad was there with other bystanders and kept an eye on the kids. I dont know if the parents were arrested or what. I can not imagine doing this to my son!!!

[Anthill]

We just had a case here in outside of PHilly. THe Grandmother had custody of the child and she went shopping at Wal-Mart and left the child in the backseat w/ that window cracked, but all the others were closed. A passerby noticed the child and was able to get her out. Whats frustrating is that here I am doing everything I can to have a child (the shots, meds, going to infertility clinics) and here these people have these kids w/out a problem and just don't take care of them.

It just goes to show you, it doesn't matter who you are wheter you are a Lawyer or a HS Dropout common sense is not exclusive to one or the other.

[rain_cries]

On top of the heat issue, which is enough on its own, strangers were able to get into the cars and get these children out. Thankfully, these were decent people trying to help - but there are alot of people who do awful things that could also get these little ones out of the car. Alot can happen in a minute... life can change in a minute... Is a trip into the store for a "minute" worth losing your baby over?

[Tasha405]

:( :mad:

[Merryg]

Neighbors can't understand how attorney left her child in hot car
Neighbor can't comprehend reports she left tot in hot car

Judi Villa and Carol Sowers
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 14, 2003 08:30 PM


Tammy Wray-Hawkins seemed like a "wonder woman" to her neighbors, juggling a demanding career as an attorney and raising five children.

Leaving her little boy alone in a sweltering car while she shopped just doesn't seem like something Wray-Hawkins would consciously do, neighbor Chris Byars said.

"Nothing has ever indicated to me that she's anything but a perfect mother," Byars said Monday. "She's a very involved mom, a wonderful mother."

Yet Wray-Hawkins was arrested Saturday after passers-by spotted her 26-month-old son alone in her locked car outside a Costco store at 44th Street and Thomas Road and rescued him. Police said the boy had been left alone for at least 30 minutes while Wray-Hawkins shopped. Saturday was one of the hottest days of the year, with the thermometer hitting 112 degrees.

"To leave a child in a car under those circumstances is inexcusable," Phoenix police Detective Tony Morales said. "Had those people not walked by when they did and noticed that child, who knows what would have happened?"

Wray-Hawkins, a Maricopa County public defender, has been placed on paid administrative leave from her nearly $50,000-per-year job. She was booked on suspicion of child abuse.

Christopher Johns, a spokesman for the public defender's office, said Wray-Hawkins has spent most of her six years there in trial groups defending clients on a range of felonies. Until her arrest Saturday, she was defending accused parole violators, part of a normal rotation, Johns said.

Wray-Hawkins didn't answer the door at her east Phoenix home on Monday.

A double stroller was in the front walkway. Her back yard had a child's play set, including a swing, a slide, a fenced swimming pool and a toddler's basketball hoop.

Byars said her "jaw hit the floor" when she heard of the allegations. She said Wray-Hawkins often shuttled her older children to extracurricular activities, played outside and did yard work with them.

"They're your typical family. This would be absolutely out of character for her," Byars said. "It's just not Tammy."

The boy in the car, who has been released to his father, is a twin. Wray-Hawkins shares custody of three other children, aged 17, 12, and 11, with her ex-husband, D. Lamar Hawkins, a Phoenix lawyer. The couple were married in 1985 and divorced in 2000. The twins are fromanother relationship.

Saturday's rescue came on the heels of two similar incidents in Tucson.

Last Tuesday, a 4-month-old infant was left inside a car as his parents ate lunch. The child survived and did not suffer permanent damage.

But his parents, Daniel, 35, and Suzanne Popson, 28, have been charged with child abuse.

On June 29, a 6-month-old girl died after her mother, Dalina Gutierrez, 21, left her inside a car and fell asleep for five hours before realizing she had not taken the infant inside when she arrived home.

Gutierrez was jailed on $1 million bond.

Wray-Hawkins, 38, has not been charged. Nicole Peña, a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, said Monday that the police have not submitted the case for prosecution, but if they do, it will be handed to either Pima or Pinal County.

"We will conflict it out because, first, she is a county employee and she is a defense attorney," she said, adding that Wray-Hawkins would come up against judges and prosecutors she knows. Child abuse charges in Arizona can carry heavy penalties, ranging from probation to sentences of 10 to 24 years.

Still, a felony conviction doesn't automatically claim a lawyer's license.

Matt Silverman, spokesman for the State Bar of Arizona, says a convicted lawyer is suspended while the bar investigates and the Arizona Supreme Court decides whether the lawyer can continue to practice.