Man and his wife came back from party, drunk and high on drugs, only for the man to assume his wife had retrieved their baby and get into bed to sleep while leaving the child unattended in the vehicle for 8 hours, resulting in her death; sentenced

Jacksonville, FL – According to the court documents, the 34-year-old defendant, later identified as JoeI, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges in connection with his baby’s death last year. Prosecutors said the defendant was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child. His wife, the baby’s mom, was also charged and is awaiting trial, court records say.

The fatal incident occurred last year in JuIy, court records say. Prosecutors say the defendant got into bed with his wife and went to sleep after a party while leaving their baby in the car overnight. Prosecutors also said the defendant went back to the vehicle to get his cigarettes and didn’t event notice the baby there. The investigation process began after hospital staff called 911 and told the dispatcher about unresponsive 1-year-old baby.

 During the investigation process, authorities discovered that the parents went to a party the night before with their three children, 8, 6 and 1-year-old. During the party, both parents consumed alcohol and marljuana. Both defendants willingly submitted to drug screenings and the husband’s blood results also came back positive for meth. When the parents returned home, the woman reportedly took the older children inside the home and told her husband to bring the baby inside. The man reportedly brought something else first and when he got back, he realized that all doors of the vehicle were closed only to assume that his wife brought the baby inside.

When he got back inside, he didn’t check on the baby or the child’s location, but went to sleep with his wife. When the couple woke up the following morning, they reportedly told the older children to check on the baby. The oldest child told their mom that the baby was not in the bedroom. The couple then started looking for the baby only to find the unresponsive child still strapped in the car seat. He rushed the baby to the hospital where doctors pronounced her dead shortly after arrival. The medical examiner told investigators that the baby’s cause of death was hyperthermia resulting from being left inside a car.