How Could You?Hall of Shame-Kadillak Poe-Jackson case-Child Death UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Wichita, Kansas, “a 10-month-old baby was left alone in a hot car for two to two and a half hours Thursday afternoon. The girl was found dead at around 6:40 pm in the 1500 block of S. Topeka.”

“Police say the girl’s 29-year-old foster father picked her up from a babysitter at around 4:00 in the afternoon. They returned to the home along with a five-year-old child. Police say, somehow, the child was left behind in the car as the 29-year-old and the 5-year-old went inside.

The foster father’s partner, a 26-year-old man who is also a foster parent, was in the backyard when they came home and didn’t realize the young girl was not inside.

Police say the two were watching TV when they realized the girl was not in the house. They found the girl unresponsive, brought her inside and called 911.

Emergency crews were dispatched to the home and pronounced the girl dead.

Police took both men in for questioning, then arrested the 29-year-old on one count of Aggravated Child Endangerment. Police expect to present their case to the District Attorney’s Office next week.

Police say the girl has lived with the foster parents since last fall, and they were in the process of adopting her. They adopted five and seven year old children. Those two were taken into police protective custody.

Three other foster children live in the home, they are staying with other family members.

Police do not know how hot it was in the car when the girl was found.

Police are tracking down family members before releasing any names.”

One arrested after baby dies in hot car in S. Wichita[KWCH 7/24/14 by Angela Smith]

“Police say the child was in a car sitting in the street outside the home. The young girl had been in her car seat in the back seat of the car with the windows rolled up for two to two and a half hours.

The girl was the foster child of two men who lived at the home. One of the men had picked up the child from a babysitter at 4 p.m., then went home. The second man was in the backyard at the time. Police say a 5-year-old was also in the car, and that somehow the baby was forgotten. Police say the men thought the girl was downstairs, and didn’t realize she was still in the car until shortly after 6:30 p.m.

It was approximately 90 degrees outside when crews arrived, but police were unsure how hot it was inside the car.

Shortly before 1 a.m. Friday, officers arrested 29-year-old Seth M. Jackson. He was booked for aggravated endangering a child. Police expect to present the case to the district attorney’s office next week.

Jackson and the other man, 26, have two adopted children and four foster children, including the baby girl they were trying to adopt. The others range in age from from 3 to 18 years old. Police have since taken a five and seven-year-old into protective custody. The other children are still with family members.

“Especially this time of year, don’t leave children, pets,” said Lt. Dennis Wilson. “Pay attention to what you are doing. Get them out, take them inside.”

This is the first heat-related death in Wichita in 2014.

The U.S Department of Transportation on Thursday launched a new public service campaign educating parents of the dangers of leaving kids in hot cars.

So far this year, including Thursday’s incident in Wichita, 18 children have died after being left in hot cars across the nation. The “Where’s Baby? Look Before You Lock” Campaign reminds Americans that it’s never OK to leave a child alone in a car.”

UPDATE: Arrest made in death of baby left in hot car[KAKE 7/25/14]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update: “A Kansas foster father arrested for leaving his 10-month-old daughter in the car is so devastated by the baby’s death he “wants to die,” his family said.

“He has no reason to live,” Seth Michael Jackson’s mother told NBC News on Friday.

Jackson, 29, and his 26-year-old partner had been in the process of adopting the baby, who was called by the names Kadylak and Anna, police Lt. Todd Ojile said.

Jackson was booked on suspicion of child endangerment after the baby died Thursday in the Dodge Charger, where she was left for two hours on a 90-degree day. The other man, who was in the back yard at the time, wasn’t detained because he believed all the children were safely with Jackson, Ojile said.

Officials said a decision on whether to file state charges against Jackson, who has two adopted children and four foster kids with his partner, would be made next week.

“The child had been picked up from the babysitter somewhere around 4 o’clock in the afternoon … and somehow forgotten inside of the vehicle,” Ojile said.

After two hours had passed, Jackson saw something on television that made him remember the baby, ran outside, got her out of the car seat and brought her into the home.

Police got a 911 call about a child who was unconscious and not breathing, and they were on the scene within minutes. The baby was pronounced dead at 6:49 p.m. (7:49 p.m. ET).

Ojile said it was still unclear why the baby was left in the car and why her absence went unnoticed for so long by her foster parents. He said both men were “extremely upset” when police arrived.

Kadylak’s biological grandmother, Cindy Poe, drove from Topeka to Wichita to find out what happened.

“Accidents do happen. We don’t know if it was accident,” she told NBC station KSN. “They have a lot of kids they take care of. I want answers.”

Jackson’s mother, Dottie, said he was inconsolable when she spoke to him at 2 a.m. Friday.

“He wants to die,” she said. “Seth’s children — that’s his life.”

She said he and his partner had adopted two boys, ages 5 and 7, who were taken into protective custody. They were fostering the baby and her sisters, ages 3 and 5, who were with other relatives at the time of the tragedy. The couple also has an 18-year-old foster son.

“I want Seth to know we’re here for him,” Dottie said, adding that she realizes his life will never be the same.

“His heart will break every time he holds a baby,” she said. “It’s going to break every time he walks in there and sees the crib.”

The baby was placed with Jackson and his partner by a contracting firm that lost a competitive bid to renew its license last year but which was still allowed to sponsor licensed foster homes as a subcontractor.

The state Children and Families has opened an investigation and instructed two other licensed contractors to inspect all foster homes associated with the firm, Secretary Phyllis Gilmore said. In the meantime, all future placements with the firm have been suspended.

Neighbors described Jackson and his partner as doting parents.

“They are two of the most kind-hearted guys that I have ever met. And I hate that there’s so much controversy right now with babies’ being left in the car, because I truly don’t feel from the bottom of my heart they would ever do this on purpose,” said Lindey TenEyck, who lives across the street.

A mother of two, TenEyck realized something was amiss when fire trucks, police cars and ambulances converged on her street.

When she went outside, Jackson was on the ground near the silver Dodge Charger, practically in the fetal position.

“He was mentally breaking down. He was hysterical. There is no doubt in my mind he will suffer for the rest of his life in his mind,” she said.

“It’s very heartbreaking on all accounts.”

 George Dasis said he broke down in tears when police carried the baby, bundled in a blanket, out of the house two hours after they were called.

Wichita Foster Dad of Baby Who Died in Hot Car ‘Wants to Die’ 

[NBC NEWS 7/25/14 by Tracy Connor and Jim Doblin]

[KCUR 7/25/14]

Update 2: Thanks to a reader for this!

“A Wichita man has been charged with murder in connection to the death of a baby who was left in a hot car.

The 10-month-old girl died after being left in a car for about 2 hours last Thursday night in south Wichita.

In court Wednesday afternoon, 29-year-old Seth M. Jackson was charged with first degree murder, or in the alternative, second degree murder. His bond has been set at $250,000.

Jackson is not to have contact with any children who were under his care or anyone on the witness list, including his partner and mother.

Secretary Phyllis Gilmore of the Kansas Department for Children and Families released the following statement after charges were filed:

“We remain deeply saddened that this child suffered such a horrific death. We support the charges filed in this case, and we will aid in any way possible the prosecution of the defendant.””

 

Wichita man charged with murder following death of baby in hot car[Kake 7/30/14 ]

Update 3: “A Kansas foster father was high on marijuana when he left a 10-month-old girl in a hot car, where she died, prosecutors said Friday.

Details of the case surfaced during a bond hearing for Seth M. Jackson, 29, of Wichita, who is charged with first-degree murder in the baby’s July 24 death.

KWCH reported that Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett cited the marijuana use in court as the reason for raising his bond to $250,000.

Bennett told the court Jackson had gone to his drug dealer’s house and bought marijuana.

He said prosecutors believe Jackson came home to consume marijuana, leaving the girl behind in the car.

Jackson was initially jailed on a $100,000 bond, and the defense had been trying to get the bond lowered.

Police have said Jackson had apparently forgotten about her until something on TV jogged his memory.

The girl was left in a the sweltering car with the windows up for more than two hours outside her foster parents’ home in Wichita.

Temperatures at the time were around 90 degrees.

Jackson’s defense attorney, John Stang, said earlier this week that prosecutors have gone too far in charging his client with murder and that an involuntary manslaughter charge would have better fit the case.

But Bennett has said the charge was warranted because the child died during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony — aggravated endangering of a child. No one alleges the child was intentionally left in the car.

Both sides agree the circumstances are entirely different than a widely publicized case in Georgia, where a father is charged with murder and child cruelty charges on suspicion of intentionally leaving a 22-month-old boy in a hot car last month as he went to work.

Jackson, 29, was arrested after he found the baby – known as Anna to the new family and Kadillak to her biological relatives – inside his silver Dodge Charger and called emergency services.

Baby Kadillak was being cared for by Jackson and his partner Payton Schroeder, 26, who are parents to two adopted boys, aged five and seven. They had cared for the girl for most of her life.

Jackson had collected her from daycare last Thursday but left her in the car with the windows rolled up as he went inside his home with his five-year-old son – as temperatures reached 95 degrees.

When he ran outside to get the girl, he found her unresponsive. Emergency dispatchers got a call at 6.41pm, and the girl was pronounced dead a few minutes later.

One of the foster parents was ‘hysterically crying’ outside the house before they were both taken in by police for questioning, witnesses said.

Jackson and his partner had been trying to adopt the 10-month-old girl they had cared for nearly all her life.

They also had three other foster children, ages three, five and 18; and had two adopted children, ages five and seven. The two younger foster children were visiting other relatives at the time.

Police have said both foster parents were distraught over what happened.

Jackson’s mother Dottie told NBC that she spoke to her son at 2am Friday.

‘He wants to die,’ she said. ‘Seth’s children – that’s his life.’

The little girl’s biological grandmother Cindy Poe, drove to Wichita to try and discover how the tragedy had occurred.

‘Accidents do happen. We don’t know if it was accident,’ she told NBC station KSN. ‘They have a lot of kids they take care of. I want answers.’

The couple’s adoptive children were taken into protective custody.

A neighbor said the men were devoted parents.

‘They are two of the most kind-hearted guys that I have ever met. And I hate that there’s so much controversy right now with babies being left in the car, because I truly don’t feel from the bottom of my heart they would ever do this on purpose,’ Lindey TenEyck, who lives across the street, told NBC.

Both the prosecution and the defense agree the circumstances are entirely different than a widely publicized case in Georgia, where a father is charged with murder and child cruelty charges on suspicion of intentionally leaving the 22-month-old boy in a hot car last month as he went to work.

Bennett said this Kansas case is not charged as an intentional murder.

‘No one is alleging, it is not charged that he did this intentionally,’ Bennett said of the Kansas case.

‘We are not intimating, as authorities in Georgia have, there was some plot or anything like that. It is a different charging theory and a different charging authority in Kansas than what appears to be in Georgia.’

Jackson’ partner, Schroeder, has not been charged. He was already home when Jackson came in and assumed he’d brought the baby in, according to police report.”

 

Foster dad was high on marijuana when he left 10-month-old girl to die in hot car and had just driven home from his dealer’s house

[Daily Mail 8/1/14 by Associated Press]

Update 4: “Seth Jackson’s attorney Les Hulnick said Jackson bonded out of jail sometime before 5 p.m. today. Police say Jackson, 29, left Kadillak Poe-Jones in the car for two to two and a half hours July 24.

The Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett alleges Jackson had gone to his drug dealer’s home and purchased marijuana on the day he left Kadillak in the car. He also says when he returned home, he consumed marijuana and was high as the girl was in the car. Bennett said in court the drug allegations were the original reason Jackson’s bond was increased. But Bennett said he did not believe Jackson was a threat to others and therefore was okay with modifying his bond.

Hulnick said the marijuana allegations were news to him Friday afternoon and he planned on speaking with Jackson about them.

Jackson is charged with first-degree murder. He was originally issued a $100,000 bond which was increased to a $250,000 bond by a judge. In a bond reduction hearing on Friday, Judge Dave Dahl approved a bond modification agreed upon by both attorneys. The bond changed to a $200,000 signature bond with a $50,000 surety bond. That means Jackson could get out of jail by posting only $5,000 and going through a bail bondsman.

Hulnick told Eyewitness News Friday afternoon the $250,000 bond was ridiculous because Jackson was not a threat to others. He said he expected Jackson to be out of jail by 5 p.m. Friday and had sent Jackson’s family to a bail bondsman.”

Foster father involved in hot car death released on bond[KWCH 8/2/14 by Devon Fasbinder]

Update 5:”Both foster parents of a 10-month-old girl who died after being left in a hot car were smoking marijuana while she remained in the vehicle outside, a Wichita police affidavit says.

The affidavit, filed in Sedgwick County District Court and released Monday, provides new details about what led up to the July 24 death, including that one of the foster parents realized that the baby remained in the car when he heard a baby crying on a television show they were watching.

They rushed outside, but her body was hot and already stiff, and she was unresponsive, the court document says.

Seth Jackson, 29, the parent who police say left the girl in the car, has been charged with first-degree murder. The affidavit spells out the allegations upon which authorities are basing their prosecution of Jackson.

The affidavit, signed by homicide unit Detective Ryan Schomaker, gives this narrative: At about 6:41 p.m. July 24, officers were dispatched to an unknown call for police and arrived at 1525 S. Topeka and were let into the home by the other foster parent, identified in the affidavit by his initials. An officer saw Jackson on the telephone and the baby, identified as K.P.J., lying on her back on the couch and not breathing.

Wichita fire personnel arrived and moved the baby to the floor to use lifesaving techniques.

The other foster parent told the officer that he estimated that the baby had been left in the car about two hours. The other parent said he ran to the Dodge Charger, parked on the street, and found the baby in the back passenger seat and took her inside, where “they tried performing CPR but could not get her mouth open,” the affidavit says.

Another officer arrived and saw Jackson standing in the front yard. Jackson made about four phone calls and said, “I left her in the car, she’s dead, she’s dead.” Jackson told the officer that he had gotten home after getting the girl from the baby sitter in his silver Dodge Charger and picking up pizza, that when he arrived home, he locked the car and went inside with the pizza and a 5-year-old child, the affidavit says.

Jackson told the officer that after about two hours, he realized the baby had remained in the car, the document says. He and the other parent ran together to the car and carried the child inside.

Schomaker and Detective Robert Chisholm interviewed the other foster parent at police offices at City Hall and found out that he and Jackson had been foster parents to the baby since she was 2 weeks old. They also learned, according to the affidavit, that Jackson had taken a 5-year-old child to a doctor’s appointment scheduled for 2:30 p.m. that day. Jackson called the other parent at about 3:30 and told how the appointment went. Jackson told the other parent he was going to pick up the 10-month-old from the baby sitter and drive home, the affidavit says.

The other parent told the detectives that he had been working in the backyard and went inside, where he found Jackson. It was 4 to 4:15 p.m., and the other parent said he thought Jackson had just gotten home. They decided on leftover pizza for dinner and went into their room on the main floor and watched one and a half episodes of “Game of Thrones.”

The other parent told one of the detectives that “they smoked marijuana that Seth (Jackson) had picked up that day,” the affidavit says.

When watching the show, the other parent said, Jackson heard “a child crying on the television show and that is when Seth realized that K.P.J. was still inside the vehicle.” The other parent ran to the car as Jackson unlocked it from the front porch, reached in and unbuckled the baby from a rear car seat, the affidavit says.

The other parent said the girl “was hot to the touch and stiff when he grabbed her,” the document says. The 10-month-old was unresponsive. He called 911 while Jackson tried to do CPR.

A coroner’s official who did an autopsy on the girl listed the cause of death as “hyperthermia due to environmental heat exposure due to enclosure inside a vehicle outdoors,” the affidavit says.”

 

Affidavit: Both Wichita foster parents smoking pot while baby in hot car
[The Wichita Eagle 8/4/14 by Tim Potter]

Update 6:”He’s accused of killing his 10-month-old foster daughter by leaving her in a hot car. Seth Jackson hasn’t had a preliminary hearing yet, but now he’s talking about his case online.

Those details include a possible plea agreement, which Jackson says could keep him out of prison.

Jackson took to Facebook Monday afternoon, but his page now has a different name: Jack Jackson.

In a post titled “Please read I need you”, Jackson encourages friends to write letters to the court on his behalf and he says those letters may convince the judge to give him probation instead of prison time.

The post starts with a plea that says “As most of you know, I’m in the middle of a legal challenge and I am calling on all of you to help. I’m needing Character References.”

Jackson says “previous letters were submitted before the “bombshell”… so there would be reason to doubt your continued support.”

That bombshell could deal with a marijuana allegation suggesting Jackson got high after leaving his foster daughter, Kadillak Poe Jones, in a car outside his home July 24th.

Jackson’s post goes on to say that “At best right now, I am going to have to take a plea deal that still comes with recommended jail time (31 to 34 months)”

He also says “My hope now lies with the judge, that he will give me probation and time served as my sentence”

Jackson hasn’t had his preliminary hearing yet, so we asked Legal Expert Charlie O’Hara what posts like this can do to a case.

“People seem to want to put their business on the internet and obviously when you are charged with a crime or involved with criminal activity to put your business on the internet is really not a very smart thing, because people can misconstrue what you mean,” O’Hara said.

O’Hara also says prosecutors use social media posts all the time in court.

“So it does cause some problems and one thing we try to tell all of our clients when they come in is to not talk about the case and not to put anything on the computer,” O’Hara added.

Under Kansas Supreme Court rules, the Sedgwick County District Attorneys office was not able to talk about the possibility of a plea and no one in the office knew about these Facebook posts until we called.

We also reached out to Seth Jackson and his attorney, the attorney called back to say no comment.

Jackson is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing on October 9th.”

Man accused of killing foster daughter talks about case online[KWCH 9/30/14 by Anne Meyer]

Update 7:“A foster dad pleaded guilty Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter for leaving a 10-month-old girl inside a sweltering car outside of his house in July while he and his partner smoked marijuana.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett has said Seth Jackson went to a drug dealer’s house July 24 before picking up the girl from a baby sitter. After arriving home, he went inside with a 5-year-old child, but left the baby in the vehicle.

It was around 90 degrees outside, and police say the girl was inside the car with the windows up for more than two hours. An autopsy showed she died of hyperthermia due to heat exposure. Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Dan Dillon said authorities are identifying the child only be her initials, which are K.P.J.

The affidavit said one of the foster parents realized that the baby was in the car when he heard a baby crying on a television show they were watching. The men rushed outside, Jackson unlocked the vehicle and his partner removed the child.

The partner told investigators the girl was hot and stiff when he carried her into the house. As he called 911, Jackson attempted CPR but could not get the child’s mouth open, according to the affidavit.

Officers who responded found Jackson still on the phone when they arrived, making calls and repeatedly stating, “I left her in the car, she’s dead, she’s dead,” according to the affidavit.

At a later interview at police headquarters, Jackson’s partner told detectives he and Jackson had been the girl’s foster parents since she was 2 weeks old and were trying to adopt her.

Jackson and his partner had five other children in their care, three young foster children ? ages 3, 5 and 18? and two adopted children ? ages 5 and 7. The two younger foster children were visiting other relatives at the time the 10-month-old died.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 30. Jackson could face 31 to 136 months in prison.”

Foster Dad Pleads Guilty in Hot Car Death[ABC 11/26/14 by Associated PRess]

Update 8: “A Kansas man who left his 10-month-old foster daughter to die in a hot car while he and his partner smoked weed and watched ‘Game of Thrones,’ has been sentenced to 32 months in prison

‘I’m not a monster,’ said Seth Jackson, 29, in court on Friday as he begged the judge not to give him jail time for the death of kadillak Poe-Jones.

‘Your honor, I’m a broken man, pleading here for my life,’ Jackson told the judge on Friday.

Jackson wiped away his tears as he was sentenced. His lawyers have 14 days to appeal the sentencing.

On a sweltering 90-degree day in July Seth Jackson and his partner Payton Schroeder watched over two hours of Game of Thrones as their five other children played inside.

Jackson’s mother also spoke up for her son telling NBC reporters, ‘he is devastated. He wants to die.’

She said her son lived for his children and for the high school students he taught.

She said he never would have wanted any child to feel harm and that he wishes it were him inside of the car instead of the young girl.

It wasn’t until Jackson heard a baby’s cries on television that he remembered Poe-Jones was still sitting inside the hot car with the windows rolled up.

The judge said that while Jackson did not mean to leave his foster daughter in a car, it was not an accident.

Police say the girl was inside the car with the windows up for more than two hours. It was around 90 degrees outside. An autopsy showed she died of hyperthermia due to heat exposure.

The affidavit says Schroeder told police that Jackson called that day to let him know he would be picking Kadillak up from the baby sitter after taking their 5-year-old adopted child to a doctor’s appointment.

Jackson told police that when he arrived home, he locked the car and went inside with his 5-year-old and pizza he had picked up.

Schroeder revealed to investigators that he and Jackson smoked marijuana that Jackson had earlier picked up that day, according to the affidavit.

Both men said they ran to the car to retrieve Kadillak and call authorities.

Schroeder told investigators Kadillak was hot and stiff when she was taken from the car and carried into the house. As he called 911, Jackson attempted CPR but could not get the child’s mouth open, according to the affidavit filed by Wichita police detective Ryan Schomaker.

Officers who responded found Jackson still on the phone when they arrived, making calls and repeatedly stating, ‘I left her in the car, she’s dead, she’s dead,’ according to the affidavit.

Meanwhile, Kadillak was unresponsive and lying on her back on the couch.

Firefighters moved her from the couch to the floor once they arrived and attempted to revive her.

Later in an interview at police headquarters, Schroeder told detectives he and Jackson had been foster parents to Kadillak since she was 2 weeks old.

Although the girl died of hyperthermia, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said the first-degree murder charge was warranted because the child died during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony, aggravated endangering of a child. The case is not charged as intentional murder.

In addition to Kadillak, whom they were trying to adopt, Jackson and Schroeder had five other children in their care.

They had three other foster children ages 3, 5 and 18, and two adopted children ages 5 and 7.

The two younger foster children were visiting other relatives at the time the 10-month-old died.

The Kansas Department of Children and Families (DCF) said in a July 30 statement ‘We remain deeply saddened that this child suffered such a horrific death.

We support the charges filed in this case, and we will aid in any way possible the prosecution of the defendant.’

The children were taken by the state.”

‘I am not a monster’: Gay foster dad, who left baby daughter to die in hot car as he smoked weed, sobs and begs for freedom in court

[Daily Mail 1/30/15 by Alexandra Klausner]