NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio (WJW) — Police say an Ohio father has been charged with murder after allegedly leaving his baby son in a hot car on purpose.
Landon Parrott, 19, is charged with murder, endangering children and involuntary manslaughter, according to New Philadelphia Police Det. Capt. Ty Norris.
Around 2 p.m. on Thursday, Norris says Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital notified them that a 14-month-old boy was brought into the emergency room by his father and was unresponsive. Attempts to revive the child failed and staffers told police that the father’s story was inconsistent with the child’s symptoms.
“Dad’s version essentially was that he found the child after he exited the restroom and the child was unconscious,” said Norris.
Police say Parrott confessed when confronted with surveillance video recorded across the street from the family’s apartment on Ashwood Lane in New Philadelphia.
Investigators say the video shows Parrott leaving the child in the car alone in the vehicle while his mom was at work, with temperatures around 86 to 87 degrees.
“We estimate that would’ve made the interior of the car about 130 degrees and this child was in there strapped into a car seat with no fluids, no air conditioning, nothing,” said Norris, “Heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking to see this unfold before your eyes.”
On the video, the last time Parrott is seen with the child is around 8:30 a.m. and the next time he saw the child was at 1:50 p.m. when he went to the car to pick his wife up from work.
During a police interview, Norris says Parrott admitted that he was aware of the dangers of hot cars and had seen news reports where children had died, but he chose to leave his son in the car so he wouldn’t be a disturbance in the apartment.
Norris asked for prayers for the child’s mother and family members while seeking justice for the little boy.
“This is about this poor child and this poor mother who was just trying to work and pay bills and finding justice for both of them.”
Parrott is being held in the Tuscarawas County Jail on $250,000 bond.
