A Carrollton, Georgia father is behind bars this morning after his two 15-month-old twins died as a result of being locked in a hot car in sweltering heat. It is unclear how long the girls had been strapped into the back seat of the Nissan SUV before being found.
Neighbors heard screams and yelling and went looking for the cause of commotion, seeing the father and kids in distress they dialed 911. When the police arrived they found 24-year-old Asa North trying to revive Ariel Roxanne North and Alaynah Maryanne North in a kiddie pool while neighbors rubbed ice packs on the children. The toddlers were rushed to a local hospital but tragically, neither of them survived.
Captain Chris Dodd has said that Asa North has been charged with 2 counts each of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. The children’s mother was out of town at the time and left the kids in the care of their father.
KidsAndCars, which keeps track of hot car deaths, has reported that 24 children have died so far this year. That does not include the North twins, their autopsies will be done today. The number of deaths this year so far is double the amount of hot car deaths by this time last year. On average, 37 children die every year from heat stroke in a vehicle”, Janet Fennell, founder of KidsAndCars, reports.
KidsAndCars published a list of safety tips to help parents avoid leaving kids in hot cars. “The biggest mistake people make is thinking that it can’t happen to them,” Fennell said. “Everyone should practice those safety measures and do whatever they have to do to remind themselves to check the backseat.”
I don’t know what anyone can say to the mother of these children, who has not been identified. She had rushed to her sister’s bedside after she had been in a car accident Wednesday night. Thursday evening she gets the call that not one, but both of her daughters are dead. How can one woman possibly cope?
