In Georgia, a 20-year-old man was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 8-month-old daughter after the baby was left in a hot car while he was being arrested at a police station.
According to NBC affiliate 11 Alive, Davied Japez McCorry Whatley was arrested around 2 p.m., on Tuesday after he showed up at the Snellville Police Department to pick up firearms that had been confiscated in a previous case. While with the “property custodian,” Whatley was taken into custody by police for a misdemeanor probation violation stemming from a hit-and-run crash with no insurance.
He was taken into custody and transported to Gwinnett County Jail.
Whatley never mentioned to police his infant daughter was alone in a parked vehicle, according to the Snellville Police.
“He made no statements as to the fact that his daughter was left in the car two buildings away from the Snellville Police Department,” Police Detective Jeff Manley told reporters at the press conference.
Manley said the baby was found and brought to a local emergency room around 9 p.m., after the grandmother “was alerted” by Whatley. He said the baby was dead by the time the grandmother found her.
The detective did not provide details about how or when Whatley was able to contact the grandmother.
11Alive’s spoke to the infant’s mother, Selena, via text message, who said her little girl lit up the room.
“She had the biggest personality a baby could have. She laughed and smiled since she was a month old. She talked to you in her baby language and answered you with noises when you said her name,” Selena said. “I loved her more than I could ever imagine and my heart is breaking that she is gone so soon.”
Whatley bonded out of jail Tuesday night on the warrant charge but was re-arrested Wednesday on a charge of second-degree murder, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.