Untimely death
A grandmother is due to be sentenced for the death of her grandson after she left him inside her car while she gambled at a casino for six hours.
The incident is reported to have taken place last June at the Kickapoo Casino in Harrah, Oklahoma. The five-year-old boy died when temperatures peaked at around 90F.
On Tuesday, Alanna Jean Orr pleaded guilty to second-degree murder of Maddox Ryan Durbin, reports the Metro. She was initially charged with the crime in April.
She will be sentenced at a later date, but faces life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the report, Orr was caught on camera arriving at the casino at 13:23. She didn’t leave again until 19:28. When she discovered that her grandson wasn’t breathing, she dialed 911 and informed them that he had choked. First responders attempted to revive him, but were unable to do so.
Orr, who has a number of previous arrests, initially denied the allegations made against her. She will be sentenced at a later date, but faces life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Growing concern
Far from this being an isolated incident, there have already been a number of reports of young children left inside vehicles while adults attended a casino.
In February, a Calgary man was charged after allegedly leaving a seven-year-old in an unheated car to attend a casino. At the time, temperatures outside reached -11F.
In another case, a woman was arrested after leaving her three-month-old baby girl inside a hot car outside a casino last August. Despite saying she only ran in to grab her keys, the woman is believed to have been inside the casino for at least 90 minutes. The baby was taken to hospital and placed in the care of authorities.
And it’s not just young children. In June, it was reported that a 29-year-old was facing charges after allegedly leaving his 76-year-old grandmother, who has dementia, inside a vehicle for 16 hours while he gambled.
Having left her with no food or water in temperatures of around 100F, the grandson faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.