The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mother pleads not guilty in hot-car death
Officials say mom left child in car at hair appointment.
The 25-year-old mother accused of leaving her baby daughter in a hot car during a summer hair appointment has pleaded not guilty to murder.
Dijanelle Fowler is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 1-year-old Skylar Fowler. She entered her plea before Judge Linda Hunter Thursday in DeKalb County, officials confirmed Monday.
Prosecutor Dalia Racine has said there was no question the child died while the mother got her hair braided at a Lavista Road salon on June 15.
Testing showed the temperature in the car rose to 129 degrees, Racine said.
Fowler was reportedly inside the salon for five and a half hours.
“No rush,” she told the hairdresser, according to Racine, “take your time;” and she told salon employees the child was at day care.
Fowler was here from South Carolina for a job interview.
She has said she left the air conditioning in the car running, and police have said that is also their understanding. But the prosecutor told a judge in a previous hearing that the state has no evidence of that.
Defense attorney Charles Brant has said it’s clear the air conditioning is why the car’s battery died, leading Fowler to need help getting it jump-started.
Later, she drove to Emory University Hospital.