Post by kahne9 on Jul 14, 2005 21:56:25 GMT -5
The arrest of a Virginia woman for traveling with children in her car trunk has called attention to a recent series of incidents in which mothers have stashed their kids in trunks, including one instance when a boy died.
One woman was punishing her children, another lacked a babysitter, another said her kids wanted to ride in the trunk, and two said the car was too crowded.
"It's silly and dangerous on so many levels," says Alan Korn of Safe Kids Worldwide, a non-profit group.
Since 1980, 49 children 14 and younger have died in trunks, says Janette Fennell, president of Kids And Cars, a non-profit group. The average age of those who died accidentally is 4.
Fennell, who was locked in a trunk during a kidnapping while her 9-month-old baby was in the back seat, says the incidence is understated because there is no federal database. A bill pending in the Senate would require tracking of non-crash car fatalities.
Most times, Korn says, kids are locked in trunks accidentally when they climb in, the lid closes and they can't get out.
Last month, the bodies of three boys were found in a car trunk in Camden, N.J., after a two-day search. Authorities say they got trapped while playing. Children run a particular risk if trapped in a car. Their body temperature can increase much faster than that of adults. In minutes, they can suffer life-threatening heatstroke.
An 8-year-old boy died of heat exposure in May in Asheville, N.C., after his mother put him in the trunk. Police say Michelle Joyce Gibson, 36, left him in the parking lot at her job because she had no babysitter.
Police found her cradling the dead child in the back seat of the car. She is in jail awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder and two counts of child abuse.
Other cases since May:
• Laverne Dunlap, 35, of Gardena, Calif., was charged in June with three counts of child endangerment after allegedly driving 70 miles with two children - a boy, 15, and a girl, 10 - in the trunk. Seven more people were riding in her Toyota Corolla.
• Tamantha Parker, 33, of Quantico, Va., was charged this month with child abuse after police said she locked her two children, who police said were about 5, in a trunk as punishment for misbehaving in Wal-Mart. Nine people were packed into her car, including at least two others who should have been in child car seats, police said.
• Lanora Lucas, 37, of Frederick, Md., was charged last month with reckless endangerment after a police officer saw her put her 9-year-old son, 3-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old friend into her Volvo's trunk. She told the officer the kids wanted to ride there.
• Cheryl Ann Schoonmaker, 38, of Stafford, Va., was arrested Friday on child-abuse charges after two daughters, 8 and 10, told their father they had to take turns riding in the trunk of a four-door Nissan Sentra during an eight-hour trip from Alabama to Virginia. The girls said there was no room for both of them inside the car, which was also carrying a 12-year-old sister, a 12-year-old family friend, an infant sister and a dog. They said their mother drove with half of the back seat folded forward so there was an opening into the trunk, and another child rode atop the collapsed seat.
The father, Curtis Schoonmaker, filed a report against his ex-wife. She will be arraigned next week. Her attorney, Eric Strom, says she will deny the charges.
After 11 children died in car trunks in the summer of 1998, a federal safety panel recommended internal trunk release mechanisms. Congress has required them in passenger cars made since 2002. Many manufacturers offer inexpensive kits for older models.
Fennell's group urges parents to keep vehicles locked at all times, teach kids not to play in or near cars and check trunks immediately if kids are missing.
I just read this article in U.S. Today. How could anybody do that to an innocent child? This sickens me. People that are found doing this should be punished. I say we lock them in the trunk and see how they like it.
One woman was punishing her children, another lacked a babysitter, another said her kids wanted to ride in the trunk, and two said the car was too crowded.
"It's silly and dangerous on so many levels," says Alan Korn of Safe Kids Worldwide, a non-profit group.
Since 1980, 49 children 14 and younger have died in trunks, says Janette Fennell, president of Kids And Cars, a non-profit group. The average age of those who died accidentally is 4.
Fennell, who was locked in a trunk during a kidnapping while her 9-month-old baby was in the back seat, says the incidence is understated because there is no federal database. A bill pending in the Senate would require tracking of non-crash car fatalities.
Most times, Korn says, kids are locked in trunks accidentally when they climb in, the lid closes and they can't get out.
Last month, the bodies of three boys were found in a car trunk in Camden, N.J., after a two-day search. Authorities say they got trapped while playing. Children run a particular risk if trapped in a car. Their body temperature can increase much faster than that of adults. In minutes, they can suffer life-threatening heatstroke.
An 8-year-old boy died of heat exposure in May in Asheville, N.C., after his mother put him in the trunk. Police say Michelle Joyce Gibson, 36, left him in the parking lot at her job because she had no babysitter.
Police found her cradling the dead child in the back seat of the car. She is in jail awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder and two counts of child abuse.
Other cases since May:
• Laverne Dunlap, 35, of Gardena, Calif., was charged in June with three counts of child endangerment after allegedly driving 70 miles with two children - a boy, 15, and a girl, 10 - in the trunk. Seven more people were riding in her Toyota Corolla.
• Tamantha Parker, 33, of Quantico, Va., was charged this month with child abuse after police said she locked her two children, who police said were about 5, in a trunk as punishment for misbehaving in Wal-Mart. Nine people were packed into her car, including at least two others who should have been in child car seats, police said.
• Lanora Lucas, 37, of Frederick, Md., was charged last month with reckless endangerment after a police officer saw her put her 9-year-old son, 3-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old friend into her Volvo's trunk. She told the officer the kids wanted to ride there.
• Cheryl Ann Schoonmaker, 38, of Stafford, Va., was arrested Friday on child-abuse charges after two daughters, 8 and 10, told their father they had to take turns riding in the trunk of a four-door Nissan Sentra during an eight-hour trip from Alabama to Virginia. The girls said there was no room for both of them inside the car, which was also carrying a 12-year-old sister, a 12-year-old family friend, an infant sister and a dog. They said their mother drove with half of the back seat folded forward so there was an opening into the trunk, and another child rode atop the collapsed seat.
The father, Curtis Schoonmaker, filed a report against his ex-wife. She will be arraigned next week. Her attorney, Eric Strom, says she will deny the charges.
After 11 children died in car trunks in the summer of 1998, a federal safety panel recommended internal trunk release mechanisms. Congress has required them in passenger cars made since 2002. Many manufacturers offer inexpensive kits for older models.
Fennell's group urges parents to keep vehicles locked at all times, teach kids not to play in or near cars and check trunks immediately if kids are missing.
I just read this article in U.S. Today. How could anybody do that to an innocent child? This sickens me. People that are found doing this should be punished. I say we lock them in the trunk and see how they like it.
