Mom charged after toddler dies in hot car
A Mendocino County mother was charged in the death of her 18- month- old son after allegedly leaving him in a car with the windows rolled up for 10 hours while she socialized, authorities said.
Prosecutors charged 23- year- old Alexandrea Raven Scott with second- degree murder Thursday, as well as driving with a suspended license, said Mike Geniella, a spokesman for the Mendocino County district attorney’s office.
She is being held without bail at the Mendocino County Jail on a $ 300,000 bond, according to jail records.
On Wednesday afternoon, sheriff’s deputies responded to Howard Memorial Hospital in
Willits on a report of a small child’s death.
Investigators learned that Scott brought her son, Chergery Teywoh Lew Mays, to the hospital, and began piecing together the boy’s final hours.
Mendocino County sheriff’s officials said that Scott and her son arrived at a residence on the 2600 block of Mitomkai Way in Willits about 3 a. m. Wednesday. Geniella said Scott “partied” after she arrived at the house, and about 1 p. m., she took the child to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The car was parked in front of the residence with the windows rolled up for nearly half a day, according to investigators.
Leaving a child in a car is extremely dangerous, said Jan Null, a Bay Area meteorologist who runs a website about child vehicular heat stroke deaths. The site has counted a total of 18 deaths nationwide this year.
Null said vehicles build up heat “very rapidly.” In the first 10 minutes, he said, the air inside the car rises about 19 degrees over whatever the outside temperature is, and it goes up another 10 degrees in the next 10 minutes.
Additionally, Null said, the bodies of infants and small children heat up three to five times faster than those of adults.
“So, while you and I could be in a car that’s, say, 109 degrees, an infant or small child would be to the point of entering heat stroke,” he said.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on Scott or her activities Tuesday and Wednesday to contact the Medocino County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 707- 234- 2100.