HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. — Two Mississippi police officers are on leave after the daughter of one of them was left alone in a police car last week and died.
Cheyenne Hyer, the 3-year-old daughter officer Cassie Barker, was left alone in the cruiser Friday afternoon,
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The car was running and air conditioning was on when investigators arrived to the scene.
Temperatures reached the low 90s with the heat index above 100 degrees Friday.
Hancock County Chief Deputy Don Bass said that the little girl was left in the car for four hours while her mother was visiting Clark Ladner, The Sun Herald reported.
Ladner is also an officer for the community of Long Beach.
Ladner said that he didn't know that the girl was in the car while he and her mother were inside Ladner's home and both were off duty when the incident happened.
Bass said Ladner is a friend of hers but didn't elaborate on exactly what their relationship was, The Clarion-Ledger reported.
Both Barker and Ladner are on administrative leave with pay.
Barker recently was the focus of an incident that forced her to go through the state Department of Human Services to regain custody of her child. Details of the incident were not available, but did involve Cheyenne.
Breaking: Toddler left in patrol car was ‘happiest’ little girl, father says https://t.co/DDIMdZApGY pic.twitter.com/oyRozwAKjU
— Sun Herald (@sunherald) October 4, 2016
No one has been charged, The Clarion-Ledger reported.
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