3-Year-Old Tenn. Boy Dies After Being Left in Hot Car For at Least 2 Hours, and Dad Is Charged
Charges have been filed in Tennessee against the father of a toddler who died last Thursday after being left in a hot car for hours.
According to online records obtained by PEOPLE, police were called to a home in Smyrna shortly before 5 p.m. that day.
When authorities arrived, they found Daylin Palmer, 3, unresponsive. Online court records confirm the boy was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators allege Daylin was left unattended in a car for at least two hours. The temperature that afternoon reached 93 degrees.
Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the boy’s death.
Dylan Levesque, 23, Daylin’s father, has been charged with felony aggravated child abuse and neglect.
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Levesque is being held on $50,000 bond.
Court records indicate he has yet to enter a plea to the charge, but will be asked to do so when he appears in court today.
Information on his lawyer was not immediately available.
Neighbor and family friend James Fuller told the Daily News Journal that Levesque had mental health problems.
“[Levesque] didn’t even remember picking him up,” said Fuller. “That’s the kind of state of mind he was in.”
The paper reports that three days before Daylin’s death, police received a call from Levesque complaining that he saw red dots from a laser pointer and that dogs were barking.
The paper also reports Levesque has been transported to the hospital several times for mental health evaluations.
