A Minnesota man is behind bars after he reportedly left his 4-year-old boy inside a vehicle for six hours while he worked on Saturday.
KAKE reports that Alexander Taylor, 28, admitted that he allowed his son to stay inside his vehicle “with the window cracked” because he didn’t have anyone else to watch his son while he worked. He claimed he had the boy in an open field where he could see him, but when the boy said he was tired, he put him inside the car for a nap.
According to co-workers, Taylor never checked on the boy throughout his 6-hour shift at the Minnesota Monthly 8th Annual Grillfest at CHS Field in St. Paul, although he initially claimed that he did. Taylor said when he went the car, his little boy was stiff. He rushed the child to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“He told the officers who were at the scene that he thought his son was dehydrated (and) he had left him in the car for a short period of time,” Steve Linders, a St. Paul Police spokesman, said, according to CBS Minnesota.
Taylor later told police he didn’t think it was “that hot” and had left his son in the vehicle in the past without any issues. However, he reportedly admitted that when he previously left he boy inside the car, he rolled a window all the way down.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office said the boy’s body showed no signs of abuse or trauma. The child’s probable cause of death has been listed as hyperthermia.
Marketing and public relations manager for GrillFest, Katie Hickman, said that people under the age of 21 are not allowed at the festival, Pioneer Press reports. She also said, however, that no one at the company was made aware that “a child was anywhere near CHS Field.”
Taylor is currently behind bars at the Ramsey County jail, facing second-degree manslaughter charges.
The story continues to develop. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
[Feature Photo: Riley Taylor/Facebook]
