Toddler and dog left in hot car for six hours die in sweltering temperatures

14 September 2023 , 17:10

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Kristen Danielle Graham, 40, of Seaford, Virginia, has been charged with one felony count of child neglect and one misdemeanour of animal cruelty (Image: Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail)

A woman has been arrested after allegedly leaving an 11-month-old child she had been looking after and a dog in a hot car for six hours in sweltering temperatures which resulted in their deaths.

40-year-old Kristen Danielle Graham, of Seaford, Virginia, has been charged with one felony count of child neglect and one misdemeanour of animal cruelty by the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office in Virginia. She is currently being held at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.

Graham had been looking after the child, Myrical Wicker, for her 17-year-old mother for two days. The dog belonged to Graham.

Myrical Wicker, 11 months, was being cared for by Graham who left her in a hot car, resulting in her death (The York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office)

Police were called to a nearby hospital in Newport News at around 4pm on Tuesday after a man entered the emergency room and said he had the body of a baby girl in his vehicle. Court documents show Paul Kudlaty, 80, took the dead child to Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital in a rubbish bag.

Hospital staff went outside and found the baby in the rear hatch of the vehicle inside a "black plastic trash bag". He is not facing charges.

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According to Sheriff Ron Montgomery, officials are waiting for the results of the infant's autopsy to decide whether charges will be upgraded to homicide. Officials said Graham received a phone call from her friend at around 1am on September 12 to ask her to bring cigarettes.

The friend was unable to buy them herself as she was caring for an elderly person in Newport News at the time. Graham put the child and the dog in the back of the car and headed to a 7-Eleven to get the cigarettes.

Sheriff Ron Montgomery said officials are waiting for the results of the infant's autopsy to decide whether charges will be upgraded to homicide (The York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office)

She arrived at the friend's house and spent some "considerable" time there. She then drove back to York County at 8am, leaving the baby and dog in the car with the windows up.

At around 2.30pm, Graham "woke up" when she received a phone call and went out to check on the dog and the baby. However, both were dead by that point.

The sheriff said Graham had given conflicting accounts as to why she left the dog and the child inside the vehicle. He added the office was investigating if she deliberately went into the house and left them in the car.

"We're still investigating how the child was left in there, but she clearly left with the child and dog," he said. "She knew because she put them both in the car. And then when she came home, she went into the house and left them both in there. So we're still investigating as to how that occurred."

In his statement, Sheriff Montgomery said: "These are not typical situations that we deal with in York County, and when you do come across the death of a child, it affects everyone - the investigators, the law enforcement people there, the EMS people that have to respond to these types of things. And I can tell you that the mood of the agency today when we had a briefing on it this morning is somewhat shock and disbelief, even though we're professionals and we have to do everything we possibly can do to do a thorough, professional investigation."

Police were called after the baby's body was taken to a nearby hospital in a black bin bag (The York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office)

He added: "We have children ourselves and I can tell you that we all go home and hug our kids and grandkids a little tighter after something like this happens."

Investigators are also attempting to determine how hot the inside of the vehicle would have been before the two bodies were discovered. According to the sheriff, temperatures hit "the upper 80s" (upwards of 26C) that day.

Sheriff Montgomery added that Graham would often babysit the child and care for her "friend of a friend's baby". Police have not revealed the name of the 17-year-old mother or any more information about the dog.

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"Clearly, this was an awful scenario," Sheriff Montgomery told Newsweek. "We've read stories like this across the country where children are left in cars on hot days. People have to be aware of when they're travelling with small children, whether they get distracted or whatever the issue is, and we don't know what it is in this case, but you can't leave children and in this case, a small dog as well, in the car."

Fiona Leishman