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A Kansas foster dad accused of leaving a 10-month-old child to die inside a hot vehicle was charged on Wednesday in Sedgwick County Court with first-degree murder.
The suspect, Seth Jackson, told authorities that he had “somehow forgotten†leaving the little girl in the back seat after he picked her up from the baby sitter Thursday around 4 p.m.
He explained to police that he went inside the house with a 5-year-old child, however he left the toddler in the car seat. Jackson said he totally forgot about the child until something he saw on the television that reminded him. The child had been in the sweltering car for almost two hours. Temperatures at the time of incident was around 90 degrees. Around 6:40 p.m., Jackson called 911. They arrived to the scene and the girl was pronounced dead a few moments later.
“It blows my mind. He loved those kids and they loved him so much. I’m mad, but at the same time, accidents do happen. I’m sure he is beat down inside. It’s hard to say what the charge should be,†said grandmother Cindy Poe.
[video=youtube_share;llHPLmviC78]http://youtu.be/llHPLmviC78[/video]
The foster dad made his first court appearance Wednesday to hear the charges against him. Jackson is being charged with first-degree murder instead of a lesser charge of aggravated child endangerment.
Jackson's defense lawyer, John Stang doesn't agree with the charges.
"Overcharged, in my opinion," Stang said. "Rather high for a mistake. I'm not trying to say it's not a horrible loss. The death of a child is an awful thing. But this person is looking at 15 more years than someone who was driving drunk and ran into a car and killed someone."
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett disagreed with Stang. He said the charge was correct. He explained the little girl died during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony, aggravated endangering of a child.
“He is devastated. He wants to die," said Dottie, the mother of Jackson. "Nothing like that should have ever happened to a child, and he knows it, and he wants to be the one. He should be the one and not her,†added Dottie.
Jackson and his partner had been trying to adopt the little girl. Records show they have been taken care of her for nearly all her life. The couple also have three other foster children, ages 3, 5 and 18, and had two adopted children, ages 5 and 7.
Seth Jackson, 29, is being held on $250,000 bail.
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