No Excuse

A local tragedy that didn’t have to happen:

A 4-year-old boy was found dead outside his family’s home Monday morning after being left in a vehicle for 17 hours, Las Vegas police said.

The boy was pronounced dead about 8:30 a.m. after one of his siblings found him in the family’s sport-utility vehicle outside the house at 4935 E. Cleveland Ave., near Sahara Avenue and Nellis Boulevard, police said.

Investigators determined the child’s parents had forgotten the boy in their sport-utility vehicle after returning home from a family outing Sunday afternoon, said Lt. Ray Steiber, who oversees the Abuse and Neglect Detail.

Sunday’s temperature peaked at 90 degrees about 6 p.m. at McCarran International Airport. At that heat, temperatures inside a vehicle can top 130 degrees within an hour, according to a San Francisco State University study.

Investigators think heat was a factor in the child’s death but were waiting for more information from the coroner’s office before determining whether it killed the boy, Steiber said. The death was the first in Las Vegas this year involving a child in a car, he said.

There’s no excuse for failing to account for ALL of their children, especially after 17 hours. I’m very appalled that nobody in the household (let alone the parents themselves), bothered to notice that the boy was missing. It’s very hard for me to find sympathy for the family, given the facts.

NEVER LEAVE YOUR CHILD(REN) UNATTENDED IN A VEHICLE — OR ANYPLACE ELSE. EVER.

Update (6/11): Jason Rimer was the name of the 4-year-old who died.

His father Stan told news radio station, KDWN he and his wife were sick and one of their other children was supposed to be looking after the younger ones.

“When we made dinner you know after church and put it on the table and we said okay kids here is your dinner. Everybody goes to the table they usually go in and grab it for themselves. Everyone pitches in and apparently he got over looked,” said Stan Rimer.

Five of the Rimer’s kids have been taken into custody by child protective services.

Stan says that is because their house is so dirty.

Tuesday night people helped clean up the house by shampooing carpets and cleaning up the kitchen.

Family friend Michael Gonzalez says the house will be ready so the kids can come home.

Stan says he does expect to get his kids back soon.

However, the Rimer kids won’t be coming home soon.

Technorati Tags: child neglect, vehicle death
Filed under Local News, Pause For The Cause |