A 74-year-old grandmother was arrested and charged Wednesday in connection with the death of her 17-month-old granddaughter, Winter Haven Police Department announced.
The "heartbreaking event" occurred March 31, police say, after the grandmother allegedly left the sleeping child in the car "unknowingly."
The toddler's cause of death was hyperthermia due to environmental exposure, police said in the release. The grandmother, Karen Denise Benyard, was charged with felony aggravated manslaughter of a child, according to police.
The toddler and another family member who had been babysitting the child had been picked up by Benyard in Lake Wales while the child's mother was working in Winter Haven, police say.
The unnamed family member, who had put the child in her car seat in the backseat, was dropped off at work, and Benyard then drove to her home where she parked the car and went inside to take a nap around 2:07 p.m., according to police.
The child, who had fallen asleep, was left in the car, police said. When Benyard woke up around 3:46 p.m. and went back to the car to pick up the child's mother from work, she found the toddler unresponsive in the backseat, according to the release.
Winter Haven Police and Fire responded and performed lifesaving measures. The child was taken to Winter Haven Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 4:33 p.m., police said.
"Overwhelmed with grief, Benyard was admitted to the hospital for treatment and was discharged several days later," police said in the release.
Detectives conducted an "extensive investigation including toxicology on the grandmother," which revealed she did not have any alcohol or narcotics in her system, according to police. Investigators also checked cell phone records and RING camera footage along her route and found "no discrepancies" in her statements and timeline.
Under state law, is it a illegal to leave a child 6 years old or younger unattended or unsupervised in a car for more than 15 minutes, or for any length of time with the engine running or when the child's health is in danger, according to police.
"This is an absolutely heartbreaking case where there is no closure for the family," said Winter Haven Police Chief Vance Monroe Jr. in the release. "Our entire department shares the heavy grief of this devastating tragedy."
Challenges over Florida's school bus and school speed zone camera face setbacks as legal battles continue
Cameras catching drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses or speed through school zones are generating millions of citations across Florida — and a growing wave of legal challenges.
