Ridgefield, Conn. Man Pleads, Is Deemed Guilty In Death Of 15-Month-Old Son In Hot Car
DANBURY, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Connecticut man accused of causing his 15-month-old son's death by leaving the boy in a hot car has entered a plea that has led to his being deemed guilty.
Kyle Seitz, 37, of Ridgefield entered a so-called Alford plea in which he did not admit guilt, but agreed the prosecution has enough evidence to convict him at trial. A guilty finding was entered on the record.
Seitz was supposed to take his son, Benjamin Seitz, to day care on July 7 but instead went to work, police said. Benjamin was inside the car for more than seven hours as temperatures climbed into the upper 80s, they said.
Seitz found Benjamin in the car when he went to day care after work to pick him up. He then took him to a hospital. The local medical examiner's office ruled the case a homicide.
Seitz was charged with criminally negligent homicide. He turned himself in to Ridgefield town police back in November after learning there was a warrant for his arrest, police said.
Seitz, who has two other children, has been free on bail.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 9. The crime carries a maximum one-year sentence.
Seitz's wife, Lindsey Rogers-Seitz, has set up a website, thegiftofben.com, and has become an advocate for technology that could help prevent people from accidentally leaving children in cars.
More than three dozen children die of hyperthermia, a very high body temperature, in cars annually in the United States, and since 1998 more than 600 children have died in hot cars.
Heatstroke can happen when the temperature is as low as 57 degrees, and car interiors can reach well over 110 degrees even when the outside temperature is in the 60s.
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