Last year, 5-month-old Daniel Hadley died three days after his mother forgot he was in the car and left him there for two hours. A month ago, a Utah court found the mother guilty of one count of misdemeanor negligent homicide and sentenced her to 18 months' probation. The Salt Lake Tribune's online community, in response to a letter to the editor entitled "Forgetting baby is murder," was deeply split between those who thought the sentence was appropriate and those who thought it was far too lenient.
I argued for the former in my comments about the letter to the editor; I did not participate in the discussion about the original news article. In the month's time that has elapsed, I have since learned that the mother in question did not call 911, but tried to cool him down herself before "eventually" taking him to the hospital. Had I known this earlier, I am not sure I would have argued so strenuously for leniency.