An 18-month-old boy had been dead for at least an hour by the time he was taken to a hospital after his father left him in a truck, got a haircut, and then drank beer and shots at a bar, according to a charging affidavit.
After his son died, the father returned to Hanky Panky’s bar in Ormond-by-the-Sea later that same day to have more drinks, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
The State Attorney’s Office has filed a motion for pre-trial detention seeking to keep Scott Allen Gardner, 33, locked up in the Volusia County Branch Jail without bond while his case goes through the legal system.
Gardner, of Ormond Beach, was arrested and booked into the jail on June 19 and charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect causing great bodily harm.
Gardner left his son Sebastian in a child seat in the back of his vehicle for about three hours in the middle of the day on June 6 when the temperature was about 90 degrees, according to a charging affidavit.
“So, for two hours and 40 minutes, that little guy is inside that car,” Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood said during a press conference. “He said the windows were down, but he’s a lying sack of (expletive) on a lot of other stuff.”
While Gardner got his hair cut and then went to get drinks at Hanky Panky’s bar, he left Sebastian in the back seat of his truck with the windows down and only a small battery-operated fan pointed at the child.
Gardner said he did not leave the air conditioner running inthe vehicle and there is no indication he checked on the child, the affidavit stated.
The child was pronounced deceased at AdventHealth Daytona Beach.
Law enforcement said the child likely died while Gardner was inside Hanky Panky’s, putting his death between one and two hours before Gardner called 911.
Later that same day, after the child’s death, Gardner and his mother returned to Hanky Panky’s, the affidavit stated.
“Father of the Year, baby’s dead, investigation is going on. What does he do?” Chitwood said. “He picks up his mother, and they go back to Hanky Panky’s for a few more cocktails, and they’re there until almost midnight.”
While at the bar, a bartender asked Gardner to check on her car, which had been rear-ended in the parking lot. Gardner did so.
“He’s a real nice guy, right, goes outside to check on the bartender’s car, but doesn’t go over to his car to check on his son,” Chitwood said. “Goes back in the bar, has another shot and a beer.”
Chitwood said: “I don’t think there’s a penalty on this earth that could ever fit for the crime that was committed here. It absolutely shocks the conscience.”
Father makes 911 call
The investigation began after Gardner called 911 at 2:45 p.m. on June 6 from Standish Street.
On a 911, Gardner can be heard saying, “My son’s not breathing.” Oh my God, he just had his eyes open. Oh my God, Sebastian!”
Gardner yells “he’s not breathing.” A woman in the background yells “Oh, my God!”
The 911 operator tells him to place the child on a “hard flat surface.”
But when an Ormond Beach Police officer arrived, he was unable to open the child’s mouth to start an airway as part of CPR. That was because the child’s jaw was locked closed, the affidavit stated. The child’s joints and knees were stiff as well, and it appeared rigor mortis had already set in.
“He can’t do CPR because the baby’s in rigor mortis,” Chitwood said.
The child was taken to AdventHealth in Daytona Beach, where he was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. The ER doctor said that the child’s body temperature was 107.8 degrees.
The doctor said Sebastian had been dead for “some time,” more than an hour, based on the rigor mortis and the discoloration.
A nurse said that a body cools down at about 3 or 4 degrees per hour, so based on that, the child’s temperature was about 111 degrees earlier. Another nurse said she “has never seen a child with such a high temperature,” the affidavit stated.
There were no signs of trauma on the child, the doctor said.
The doctor also told police that Scott smelled of alcohol.
Father does not say anything about haircut, bar
Gardner told a detective initially that the child “seemed to be acting strangely” that morning, the affidavit stated. He said he used a thermometer, which showed the boy’s temperature at 99 degrees. He said he gave the child some cold medicine. Gardner said he notified the daycare that the child was sick and would not be dropped off that day. And Gardner called his employer to say he would be staying home to care for his child, the affidavit stated.
Gardner said he was driving the child to go for a walk at Bicentennial Park at 1800 Ocean Shore Blvd. He said he became concerned because the child was unusually quiet. He tried to rouse Sebastian but failed, so he pulled over by the side of the road and attempted CPR. But he decided that was not an “optimal location,” and he drove to his mother’s house on Standish Street.
Upon more questioning, Gardner said he had taken the child with him to Pet Supermarket at 1185 W. Granada Blvd. in Ormond Beach at 9 a.m. to get a refund on a previous purchase. He said they returned home before leaving for the park at 12 to 12:30 p.m.
Detectives learn of haircut, Hanky Panky’s bar
But detectives learned that Gardner had gone to Hanky Panky’s Lounge at 1088 Ocean Shore Blvd.
Gardner opened a tab at Hanky Panky’s, which consisted of domestic bottle beer and “X2 call shots” for a total cost of $15.50, the affidavit stated.
Detectives found that Gardner closed the tab at 12:56 p.m. on June 6.
A bartender said she worked at Hanky Panky’s from noon to 7 p.m. on June 6 and that Gardner had arrived at the bar around noon. She said she remembered a conversation with Gardner about the child having a low-grade fever. She said Gardner had a bottle of beer and a shot of Fireball.
She said no one at the bar saw Sebastian.
She remembered asking Gardner to check on her vehicle because someone had backed into it and he did.
Dad got haircut while son was in hot car
Detectives checked the area for video surveillance and while doing so interviewed an employee at Classic Cuts, at 1100 Ocean Shore Blvd. The employee said Gardner came into the shop about 11:30 a.m. while she was cutting someone else’s hair. She said when she was done with that customer she cut Gardner’s hair. She said she finished with his hair about noon. She said she never saw the child.
Law Enforcement said during the press conference that Gardner and the child’s mother are separated. The mother lives in another county and Gardner was taking care of the child.
Sebastian at least 7th hot car child death this year
Gardner later admitted in an interview with law enforcement that he had left his child in the truck with the windows down and a small battery-operated fan blowing on him, the affidavit stated. He said when he returned to the truck he saw something was not right with the child and he blew into his mouth. He said the child’s eyes opened and he drove to his mother’s house.
Sebastian was at least the seventh child in the nation to die this year after being left inside a hot car, according to Kids and Car Safety.
The organization said in a press release that at least 1,132 children have died in hot cars nationwide since 1990 and at least another 7,500 survived with various injuries.
About 88% of children who die in hot cars are 3 or younger.
The majority, 55%, were “unknowingly left by an otherwise loving, responsible parent or caregiver.”
‘This was intentional’
Chitwood said that Sebastian’s death was not one of those, not one of a caregiver who forgets.
“This was intentional,” Chitwood said.
Chitwood said he hopes Gardner is forever reminded of what happened.
“I pray that his son is constantly in his vision asking him, ‘Dad, why did you do this to me? There’s no logical reason why this little guy is dead. “
Ormond Beach Police Chief Jesse Godfrey said the investigation started out as a CPR call. He praised the collaboration between the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office. He said there had to be accountability when a child dies this way.
He said it was a difficult case for law enforcement to have to deal with. He thanked Chitwood for allowing the Ormond Beach Police Officer Marc Pedevillano, who had tried to do CPR on the child, to be the one to put the handcuffs on Gardner.
“This is probably one of the worst calls that law enforcement has to go on, and we have to deal with it,” Godfrey said. “And we are providing services to our officers as far as mental health and wellness, because this is a tough one. I’ll tell you that this will never leave us.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Boy lay dead in hot car for at least an hour before dad called 911
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
