How horrible.

This just does not add up. A 4 year old??????? The complexity of these actions are unreal.

How many 4 year olds do you know have these capabilities?

It's just a question. I just do not think all the information has been revealed.

IF all this is true HORROR could be an understatement for ALL the families.

Everytime I hear these stories I always wonder how these little kids are able to in fact push in the brake, while putting the car in gear. Or if it was a manual there would be even more. I know when I was 4 I couldnt reach the pedals.

Yes..how does a four year old reach the pedals? Unless he just jacked it into gear without stepping on the pedals at all..hmm. Very sad, extremely tragic. One thing we never do with small children around is leave our keys in our cars..that is tragedy waiting to happen clearly. Wish there were more to the story for us to read...

You don't leave small children unattended in a vehicle, with the keys inside. EVER!

The stupidity of some parents, amazes me.

Many little boys love machines, and an unlocked car or truck is just too much temptation. So sad for the little guy who is not much more than a baby himself, and for the parents of the baby. I found myself hoping they weren't all in the same family. My prayer's go to everyone involved in this tragedy.

On older vehicles you didnt have to step on the brake to put it in gear. Another Texas Trailer Park Story to add to the list.

I've heard of little kids (not quite 4) but very close, doing exactly this same thing. I think there was a 7 year old near Grand Rapids, MI who got in their mini-van and drove down to the movie store...litterally DROVE...and managed to not do any damage.

Here's the thing...do people really think the mechanics of driving are "hard"? Kids arent stupid (unless you raise them that way) but most of them learn via observation. How many times have kids seen their parents start up a car? You put the key in, turn, it goes vroom. Then you move the little shifter thingy, and VOILA...car in motion.

And a lot of cars do not REQUIRE pressing on the brake to move the gears. Most cars move without pressing on the gas...it's very likely this kid did very little get this car rolling.

The question I have is, how mentally challenged was the lady with the baby, to put herself and the baby in the way of getting hit? It's like too many people get their clues from movies...you dont stop a vehicle by jumping on the front of it...never works in movies, wont work in real life.

how supid could that woman be to see what was happening and to have ur baby in ur arms to stop a car driven by 4 year olds like they were actually gonna stop, put the baby down anywhere if ur gonna get in front of a car. she's as senseless as the woman who left the keys in the ignition probably with the car on, this country has to step it up in the thinking department

so its okay to leave a 3-week old baby unattended. where do you expect her to put the baby down?

Well if I was going to chase down a car driven by toddlers I'd of put the little human anywhere. Actually, anywhere is better than in the arms of a woman who is trying to chase down a car driven by toddlers.

I'd have put the baby down in his/her crib, then moved to stop the children.

The parent who wasn't paying attention to her 4yo is responsible for this death. It sucks, but is true.

Actually, the mother of the newborn is responsible for the death of her baby! Her FIRST priority and duty/concern is to her baby. All she had to do was put the baby down, anywhere. It was too young to even move. It would have been perfectly safe. She was completely stupid! I understand she reacted in a split second decision but a mother's instincts normally take over first to her own most helpless of children. This was probably a very young mother or simply someone lacking in the common sense department. I have been in a similar situation when my daughter was an infant. You don't jump in front of a moving vehicle. You won't stop it! She hopefully won't procreate again, or at least any time soon.

Also, four year olds can be very tricky. It does not take much at all. The parent of the four yr old may have some blame for the actions of their child if in fact they left the keys in the ignition. But... if they were in the house, and the four yr old just decided to have fun, then this could happen all in the time it takes to go to the bathroom! Though the parents of the four and five year old kids should have taught their kids better, sometimes kids do what they know they are not supposed to anyway. That said, if they were truly respectful of adults, and knew they would get a good spanking, I doubt they would have done something like this.

You can teach them but at that age, kids just do what they do, they don't think. I learned to lock my car after the 3rd time finding my toddlers in it playing with the lights, altho I was more worried about a dead battery. They know how to use keys as well, to open the door, so I have to keep a close eye on those now.

That's an age when everyone's children do stupid, dangerous things, but for most of us it will end in a lecture and a lesson (maybe a spanking), not tragedy like this.

Can't feel sorry enough, for all the families involved here.

How about this as a suggestion......if you are leaving your kids in a car unattended (something not unthinkable in many locations), take your keys with you!

teach a 4 year old about driving a car? geesh! little kids copy things they see. It's a tragedy and so sad.

Taking your keys with you may not be enough! If the kids are in the car and they push it into neutral and it's on a hill - especially older cars, they will roll. Although I think in this case the child was actually driving.

Bottom line, keep the kids out by locking the car and keep the keys out of reach.

But no matter what, hindsight is 20/20 and all you can feel is horror and sadness on behalf of family and friends of these people, specifically whoever was in charge of the kids, the mother of the baby, and even the child himself - he ahs to grow up with that guilt.

My 2 1/2 year old granddaughter comes to the office everyday - you would be amazed at some of the things she picks up. She understands how to answer the phone (and has), how to work the computer (moves mouse and bangs on the keyboard), paper shredder. It does not surprise me that a 4 year old would be able to grasp how to drive a car. The question is how did he get the keys?

Let's not forget how many kids play video games, especially ones where you race cars. I know my 4 year old nephew plays LOTS of video games, and it would not shock me if he could manage to do the basics of driving a car.

Heck, I remember being under 10 and sitting on my dads lap while driving on backroads outside of the city and steering the car and we had to have been going at least 30-40 mph. It was super cool as a kid, but in hindsight, it wasnt much of anything. I sat there, held the wheel steady...and when my dad needed to, he'd hold on and do the actual steering.

I also remember playing in my parents car in the driveway as a kid with the neighbor kids...it was always unlocked and we'd get in and play pretend that we were driving somewhere, and I remember vividly how angry my parents would get every single time. But hello, lock the doors you idiots! Kids are kids

to mb-757763 - you say "If the kids are in the car and they push it into neutral and it's on a hill - especially older cars, they will roll." How true. I unfortunately remember an incident where I got my ass whooped. Mom had left us in the car and I was sitting in the driver's seat and pushed in the clutch. We were sitting on a hill and car rolled backwards. Didn't hit anything, but boy was mom mad! The keys had not been left in the vehicle.

Wildlife 132; My four year old son (at the time) did the same thing to me. I had stopped to gas up my one-ton truck, manual with a floor shift, and the station lot was on a slight incline down to a pond. Everything was fine until I finished. All I did was turn around to put the nozzle back, and when I turned back to the truck, it was ten feet away and heading toward the pond. My son had either kicked or been playing with the shift stick and managed to knock it into neutral. To the people on here who say these things happen because the parents aren't paying attention to their kids obviously don't have any and don't know what they're talking about. I was right there next to the truck, and there was nothing I could have done to stop what happened. It had an emergency brake, but I never used it after it froze up on me previously, but with such a truck/transmission, you don't need to use it unless you're on a very steep hill, in 1st gear, it wasn't going to move. I didn't leave the keys in the ignition, I paid at the pump so I never left the truck for an instant. My son was seatbelted into the passenger bucket seat. The filler tube was right behind the cab beside his window. He was never out of my sight until I turned my back to hang up the nozzle and print the receipt, and then it happened. The amazing thing was how fast it picked up speed on the little incline. I could not get around the truck in time to get to the driver's door, open it and hit the brakes before it reached the pond. I was on the running board with the door open, so I was going with it if I had to, but luckily, they had a curb there that was so high, a normal car would bottom out on it. It stopped the truck and us from going into the pond. It was a good lesson learned; never touch anything when you're in Daddy's truck!

But THIS story is either not complete, or some charges of some kind need to be brought against the parent(s) of the kids left in the car with the keys in the ignition. That is gross negligence at the very least if this account is true!

how do you know. your so judgmental. The story said the kid started the car. You're a complete pinhead to post such a stupid statement.

My own mother started the car, and left my 4 year old sister in it, while she ran back in to get the baby. (I was at school). When she came back out the car was gone. At the time we lived in an upstairs apartment above a garage on some large estate in Connecticut, at least 1000 feet off the road. After the police showed-up, they discovered that my sister had managed to put the car in gear and had "driven" it across a field and into a stone wall at the far end, a good half mile away, to a point not visible from the house. She had been standing on the seat and had managed to slip the automatic transmission into drive, and with just idle power the car had managed to drive slowly across the field. This happened in early 1964, the car was an old Buick station-wagon.

So my guess is that bhagins has guessed correctly, and that the kid was left alone unsupervised in the car either with the keys in the ignition or with the car running. How would a 4 year old reach the gas pedal?

Yes, I think that too... I think you are right - but the woman who ran in the house may or may not have been the mother.

I see so many people being judgemental, and forgetting the fact that we are all humans. None of us really know the circumstances and at this point I believe this could happen to any parent(good or bad). To the family, you will be in my prayers.

I can't believe some of these comments. It really makes me MAD!!!! I have 3 kids at home and I don't care WHO you think you are when you are a mom but you are NOT capaible of keeping your children in your site at ALL TIMES!!! My kids range in age from 3 to 15 and all three are very active. NOT only is it physically impossible to keep one of my only two eyes on them at all times, but who the heck as the mental strength? Yes I am aware of what my kids are doing and NO I am not a parent who stays in my room with the door closed hoping that they are doing what the are supposed to do. I AM A MOM!!! I have to walk out of the room to change out the laundry, I have to walk into another room to cook dinner, I have to go to the bathroom and sometimes it takes longer than others. But what I am trying to say is that when I have my back turned things can happen. I am not perfect and there are times when I have left my car keys on the table and never even thought about it and my three year old could have got them. THINGS JUST HAPPEN! So before you go judging a parent on their skills don't you think you should know what happened first. Oh and just to clarify that if the mom was a piece of crap and was drunk drugged up or just plum lazy then you can bash her but until then I think you need to BACK OFF.

lilmomma -- Well said. Too many judge too quickly with too little facts. I posted earlier about my younger one .... I used to call him my "rug rat," because he crawled so fast! I was a stay-home mom with 2 at home ... but he was my challenge. I had to stop shopping with him when he was 7months old, because he could wiggle out of both the stroller strap AND the harness I attached to it and stood up in the stroller. And where was my older one? Obediently holding on to the stroller right at my side. Oh, did I say that he'd pull the tags off the clothes and eat them? Oh, my, I long for those days now ... but they were torture then!

Don't get upset about the people here who assume. They probably don't have kids, so it's easy for them to just spout off. Good luck with your crew!

maybe the kid was strapped to her?

She saw kids in a moving car, and reacted immediately. Don't fault her for that.

DUH...Randy-699352 Why don't you get off your a_— and drive or fly down there and ask her.

Walk in her shoes for a few days.

Go find out exactly what she was feeling and thinking at the moment.

DUH Hell!

Randy, I originally thought the same thing, but then thought about how she must have reacted in an instant without thinking.

The article says the woman saw what was happening and ran out with her baby in her arms to stop the van. So she ran out in front of it? I mean, that's the only conclusion you can come to. And how fast was the van going? Typical lousy reporting by second rate reporters. Journalism 101: Who, What , Where, When, Why, How.

It could have just been a reflex. When the adrenalin is flowing it's hard to explain actions. Just a thought.

I get the immediate reaction to run out with your baby...but, at some point a level of intellect kicks in and says "I cant stop a moving vehicle with my body"...so smart people, dont try...stupid people, do.

We then call them "hero's for trying" because it's too embarrassing to point out how stupid they truly are. She didnt jump in a river to save a drowning child, and lost her own life while saving another...she tried to stop a moving vehicle with her BODY. Smart nor does "instinct" come to mind.

I hear what you are saying and agree. I'm just stating that some people don't think reasonably when they see something out of the unordinary happening. Something kicks in and they react without really thinking about the repercussions. It sad but true. Some stories turn out great and heroic and some don't. Like this one. We don't really know what her frame of mind was at the time.

Stepping in front of a moving car - Darwinism at work! It is a tragedy none the less that there are stupid people such as this. What 'instinct' is it that motivates a person to step in front of a moving vehicle, especially with a baby in arms? Emergency or not, is this an act of a sober, thinking individual?

It depends how long you have to actually think.

I was once helping a friend move a giant granite slab from a small hill leading down to a sidewalk (in town). He was in a Bobcat atop the embankment, dragging the block up with a chain I had fastened about it. The chain slipped off and the block came down, heading for the sidewalk. I didn't have time to see if anyone was behind me on the sidewalk watching us. And I didn't have time to think the obvious...uh, this block weighs about a quarter ton more than I do, how the hell can I possibly stop it? My instinct was to stop it any way I could, so I got in front of it and tried to stop it, a la Superman. Wrong! Lucky for me, the hill was muddy, because it drove me into the ground like a nail, up to my thighs. Yes, I stopped the block and lived, but only because of the mud (it sank too). When I looked behind me at the sidewalk, there was nobody there. I should have just moved to one side and let it go by, but you don't have time to think about 'would've, should've, could've' until it's over.

The woman was a mother, possibly even the mother of the kids in the car, we don't know. Either way, a mother's instinct when seeing kids in imminent danger, is to save them. I know that the first instinct of how to stop something coming at you in a panic situation is to jump in front of it and just stop it. No, not a train coming at you at 70 miles per hour, but a slowly rolling car, yes. I've tried to do it myself, not to save anyone, but to stop it from rolling away. It doesn't work, because it weighs 2 tons more than you do, but you think it will so you jump in front of it and try. With kids in the car, most especially if they were HER kids, she didn't stop to analyze the situation, she just tried to stop it any way she could. Tragic all the way around, but completely understandable. When it works, these people like this mother are called heroes, and you would all be singing her praises. As far as I'm concerned, she still is a hero for trying. Guess it depends on the person doing the looking.

and it's possibly the kids turned the wheel toward her reacting to her presence, we have no idea what the full facts are right now.

Steve....Your confession of STEPPING IN FRONT OF A GIANT GRANITE SLAB" and living to tell about it "ONLY BECAUSE OF THE MUD" tells me that you are one of those stupid people that are likely to get themselves killed or, as in the case of this woman, get someone near them killed.

You should not have children to pass those genes to. (If they survived your raising them they would only contribute to the 'dumbing of America') Please.... do not join the armed services or be a fireman or police officer or......most anything! Your words " I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO THINK THE OBVIOUS" before trying to stop that granite slab and also "ADMITTING THAT YOU HAVE TRIED TO STOP A MOVING CAR BY STEPPING IN FRONT OF IT" says it all. Stay indoors and avoid human contact! YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID!!!!!!!

Steve 1003320....post script....you also stated "When it works, these people like this mother are called heroes and you would all be singing her praises. As far as you are concerned you still think she is a hero for trying"

News flash Steve: stepping in front of a moving vehicle NEVER WORKS. DUHHH!!! But thanks for helping prove that point that you can't fix stupid!!

GARY JR; You (probably intentionally) missed the last sentence, the only part of the post directly intended for you. "Guess it depends on the person doing the looking."

You just confirmed that. You think a person who steps in front of something in order to save the people behind him/her, or someone in danger, is stupid. I think that person is a hero, however it turns out. You think a person who would jump out of the way to save him/herself and let the other person die is smart. I think he/she is a coward. You know, like a soldier who fights a war for his country. Obviously it's never a good idea to face someone with a gun who's trying to kill you, but that soldier's still a hero whether he comes home alive or dead.

I have NEVER seen a coward honored, like heroes (dead or alive) are. Sorry you can't understand that, but I guess you and I are just not the same kind of people.

What? what has one to do with the other, this is a 4 year old, not a college student.

Capt Tripps I do believe that you made my point.

MrCool: what you're saying is so UNcool it's disgusting. A child, especially a four year old, to about 7 is still exploring his body functions. Hands, legs, etc. That's why they jump around sometimes for no real reason. Their minds are recording what they can do physically. The same thing with what they can get accomplished. The child doesn't know that he's not supposed to operate it. In fact, most 16 yr olds who can observe the driving skills of their parents don't know how a vehicle operates, it's just a guess for the most part.

That's what a child thinks, to answer your question. It's not that he's playing a trick. It's that he 'hands on' figures out things, they way every child does. The few that don't are either shy or scared of things operational. Obviously, this boy wasn't. It's not a case of bad parenting, because no one knows if the child took the keys while the mom was paying attention to the baby. Kids are just plain hard to monitor.

The fact of this matter is this is a tradgety. No one is at fault anymore than no one is getting their just deserts for being mischievous.

MrCool - when it comes to a 4 yr old, the parents get full responsibility...even if it was an honest mistake ANYONE could have made.

When it comes to an 18 yr old, they are responsible for their own actions at this point - despite crappy or excellent parenting.

what more is there to understand about this?

Tammy-1741884

I agree: it is; "Sad and sickening!"

Where was the parent? Where were the parents?

Sadly, in today's world we need both the singular and plural forms of the term "parent."

The term that applies to this situation is "Complacency." Everybody is guilty of it. There are no exceptions. The parents are feeling had enough about it, they don't need stones thrown at them by people that live in glass houses.

Eh, my kids are out of my sight often enough, but my car is locked and my keys kept safe because they have too often climbed in there and played around with my lights. You don't have to be tied to your kids, but you have to know what they can and can't do and take precautions.

I know as a parent I am often surprised at what my sons are able to get into. I learned they could open my front door by waking up and finding them riding their tricycles in the yard. Luckily my next door neighbor saw them coming outside and came to my house. Was I a bad dad for sleeping at night?

Don't know the circumstances here, except that this is a sad tragedy, and I can't imagine what these families are feeling right now.

Wow, stop judging until you know the facts. Nobody knows who the parents are or what this poor lady's relationship is to the kids in the van. Maybe they are her kids. Maybe she babysitting them, maybe they were neighbors and she acted instinctively. Until the facts come out you have no right to place blame or condemnation.

can't agree more on that Baby turtle. Please folks before you Judge have a Bit of Compassion for the kid and the mother who lost her child.

Baby turtle - you are so right on point! I can't imagine what the mother is going through after losing her child while trying to prevent another tragedy!

@ SeanDe who said, "We don't have enough information to judge other then this is a horrifically terrible accident." Yours post is one of the most sensible that I've read so far.

According to the article:

• The boy started the van, yet people ask "Why was the car left running?"
• It hasn't been determined what the connection is between the woman and the children in the van. For all we know, she's their mother!
• The article DOESN'T say that the keys were in the van, yet people ask,"Why were the keys left in the van?"
• "Why didn't the parents keep the keys where the child couldn't reach?" Who said they didn't?
• "Where were the parents?" is a fairly valid question, but anyone who doesn't have kids doesn't understand that little kids can disappear in the blink of an eye even when parents are extremely diligent.

My first child was inquisitive, as all children are, but not to the extent of my 2nd one. The 2nd one figured out how to pull out plastic electric socket covers by age 9 months. Where was I? In the same room! I turned for a second, he had 2 out. The gate at the top of the stairs? He figured out how to unlock it by 16 months, so we had to add a padlock to it. When he was toddling and could reach doorknobs, we had to add hook locks to all of the doors.

To most other posters: Please, people -- read the article before posting and stop assuming things, especially parental negligence. Thank you.

You could not have said it better ....

I know my 4 yr old is perfectly capable of doing just that, which is why my car is locked and my keys hidden nowadays. He got as far as putting the keys into the ignition one time, that was close enough for me.

my 20 month old son knows what a car key is, he knows where it goes to turn the car on, he even knows how to unlock doors with keys (if he could reach them himself.) everyone is forgetting that kids mimic everything that we do. and i mean everything. they constanly watch us to learn how things are done. We can't blame the 4 year old for taking the car, because they are just repeating what they see mom or dad do all the time. (they want to be just like us) we could blame the parents for not keeping a closer eye on the kids, and i'm sure at some point the legal system will bring up charges, but, i'm sure they already feel terrible for what has happened. And for the mother of the infant who was killed in this terrible accident, she will probably hurt the most from this because she lost her 3 week old child. it's doesn't matter that she was holding it or not. She lost a child and as a parent i can't think of anything worse. Please stop laying blame on others. This was a tragic accident.

I suspect the mother who lost her newborn was also the mother of the 4-year-old that took the van. And....just a thought.....there are places in this country where people leave their cars unlocked, keys in ignition. I'm sure this is hard to fathom for those living in big urban communities.....small town areas, this is very common.....not logical, but common. It is a sad story....the mother and 4-year-old will probably live with guilt for the rest of their lives. Prayers to all.

The assumption you're making is that children are ignorant or at the very least, not intelligent enough to undertake the cause of this tradgedy. For most children, they learn through imitating what they see. For the precocious few others, they are quite capable of grasping the concepts necessary on their own. I have an 8 year old niece who recently started the 5th grade. She has an IQ of 183 and could carry on a conversation with even some of the more educated adults that I know and make them feel as ignorant as you seem to believe children to be. Long story short, even if the car had been locked and the keys were several feet outside of their reach, you can rest assured that if a child aims to accomplish something (and I am not suggesting this child sought to do this with the intention to cause harm) they WILL find a way to do it. Children are far more intelligent than we give them credit for.

As far as the "Where were the parents" comments are concerned, there isn't nearly enough information at this point to paint the entire picture. As it stands, any comment made is based entirely on conjecture. It's easy to question the woman's rationale when she ran out with her three month old in an attempt to prevent what became an unfortunate tradgedy but did you stop to think about what MIGHT have happend during the time she left the three month old unsupervised to go after the 4 year old? If you've never been in a similiar situation where you had to make a split-second decision such as this, don't pretend like you know what all goes through one's mind. If you have never been a parent, I cannot even begin to imagine what makes you think you're an expert on what constitutes as good or bad parenting, common-sense aside.

If you don't have kids, you would be surprised how smart and capable they are. I know it sounds implausible that a 4 year old could put so much thought into getting keys, opening a car, starting a car, etc. But I have 3 kids and I believe any one of them could've done this if they put their mind to it. It's not that hard. Kids see their parents get in the car, start it up, put it in gear, everyday. It's absolutely possible for a 4 year old to this. He doesn't have to be 5 feet tall to reach the brake, if that was even necessary, depending on the vehicle. This is tragic. Don't judge, no one knows what happened.

I would assume that the mother of the infant was also the mother of the kids in the car, she probably put the kids in the car first then went into the house to get the baby.

Am I the only one who thinks a baby didnt have to die, despite this kid being stupid and driving a van? Let him crash into the tree to stop...or someone else's car.

No, I think i'll put myself and my baby in front of the car to protect peoples personal belongings. LOGIC - it's failing america badly.

And how is it logical to assume that any given person can employ logic and reason in any given situation, particularly one such as this? Common sense - it's obviously failing you.

yea, let them roll into traffic, that'll teach them a lesson.....

beautiful specimen of the human race jessica.

You missed the target with that one Pam...the chorus has been and always will be "Blame Bush".

I just read through this quickly and haven't seen any other reports...but, do we know for sure that the woman who lost the child wasn't the mother of the two in the van?

Just a guess but . . . the woman probably reacted because it was her van she saw moving, knew who was in it and that something not good was happening. Then she compounded the problem by not putting down the infant.

Waterboard him first.

Lawrence - moron

I'm not sure what part of the world you are from, but in our system of law (indeed in 90% around the world), the concept of "guilt" requires the guilty party have some sense of right versus wrong. It is certainly true that "ignorance of the law is no excuse", but all legal systems require that "guilty" be based on the actor knowing (or a so-called "reasonable man" knowing) that what you are doing is "wrong."

I am sure you (and everyone here) will agree that a 4 year old does have some capacity to decide if what they are doing is OK or not; this is the average 4 year old does have some capacity to tell right from wrong--but he doesn't have as developed a capacity as a 5 year old, a 10 year old or a 15 year old. Because this sense of OK vs not OK develops over time, most societies do hold parents responsible for some actions of their children. In short, because "junior" can't be expected to make every decision about basic right and wrong--particularly as certain very young ages--society holds parents responsible for both the decision of right vs. wrong...and any subsequent actions based on the decision.

I think there is enough in this thread to say....the most important decision about right and wrong in this case, was whether or not to leave those kids in a car without having first insured that no one in the car could cause it to move. That means putting the car in gear/"park", setting the parking break and.....taking the keys! Such decisions would have insured that the decision of a 4 yr old would not have resulted in tragedy.

You've got to be kidding me! He's a kid! "As Republican"? Seriously? I'm a Republican, but I'm a human first. All humans make mistakes, and if you thinka 4 year old is old enough to understand the consequences of his actions, you have a lot of learning to do! You should be tried for stupidity! I think you'd be found guilty.

you have got to be kidding me!! i am hoping you were being sarcastic. a 4 year old doesn't have the capability of forming that kind of intent. he should not go to jail. it was a tragic accident, one that all parties involved will have to live with.

Either you must not know very much about the law or you weren't being serious.. First, there are different laws for minors because they do not have the same level of competency as an adult. Second, even if he were tried as an adult he would never be found guilty of vehicular homicide or even manslaughter because he did not have the intent to kill or the competency to act recklessly. I don't see what being a republican even has to do with applying the law properly. Charging the parents with neglect or vehicular manslaughter (in place of the child) is one thing, but convicting a 4 year old is pretty much the dumbest thing I've heard in a while.

I am a Republican as well but what the hell does being a Republican have anything to do with this very sad ACCIDENT? We are all Americans. At 4 years of age, I don't think this boy can comprehend what has happened. STOP THE JUDGING. A precious innocent life has been taken tradegically. My heart aches for all involved.

Lawrence - Are you implying that the child might be Democrat since you so boldly stated that you are Republican? Well, with that asked, when was the last time you were around children of this age or any age, for that matter? How can you even suggest the child should be charged with anything? What if it were your child (heaven forbid) and the same scenario played out...would you be so quick to judge?

You are scary!!!!!

I love how everyone has such an adroit grasp of sarcasm these days...

:)

Come on, people! Lawrence was joking. Jeez. I agree with Rick - ever hear of sarcasm?

I got the sarcasm...but, maybe this thread wasn't the best place to use it. It's hard to keep your sense of humor when reading about the death of an infant due to an unfortunate accident.

Lawrence wasn't even joking. He was trolling and look at all the fishies he caught!

Again four is not much older than a baby. Four is not the age of reason!!!

Thank you Lyxi. I was thinking the same thing, but you expressed it more eloquently than I could have. I'm a single mom who has raised two great kids on my own...but, because I was alone (and even if I wasn't), I know I wasn't able to keep an eye on my kids 24/7, and I know that I did things that, thinking back on it now, I would never have done had I thought about it a little longer (I managed to lose track of my daughter in a store once and nearly had a panic attack. Fortunately, she was fine...just one aisle over looking at the cookies). Sometimes, as a parent, you are trying to handle three things at once and you don't think through what the ultimate consequences could be. This is a tragedy for everyone involved and I will not judge any of them without knowing all of the circumstances.

i agree with you that 'no one would expect their kid to....', but (and this is a very big but), raising the typical child will result in many, many (hopefully positive) experiences that "surprise" the parent (vis a vis what their kid can do).

I'm nearly 60 years old and i only have one kid (born when i was 46). Maybe it's my age showing (i.e., old enough to have seen this before, so i know it's possible and not a 'surprise'), but it boggles the mind how anyone could leave a kid in a car and not 1) lock the door from the outside if there is any possiblity that you wont be able to see the vehicle at all times and 2) taking the keys so that a curious child wont be tempted to 'try......'