Judge sets no bond for man accused of leaving infant daughter to die in hot car

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The father charged with leaving his baby to die in the back of a hot car went before a judge on Friday morning.

Channel 2′s Audrey Washington was at the hearing where she said Davied Whatley sat emotionless as the judge set no bond for the 20-year-old father.

Whatley is charged with the second-degree murder of his own daughter, Nova Grace Whatley Trejo, who was only 7 ½ months old.

On Tuesday, Whatley went to the Snellville Police Department to pick up some belongings seized during a previous case.

He said he left his daughter asleep in the back seat of his car while he was inside.

Whatley’s family said he thought the matter would take minutes, but then police took him into custody on an unrelated warrant.

Whatley’s family says he told police his daughter was in the car and that officers told him they would get the baby.

But Snellville police say Whatley never told them about the baby. Whatley’s mother, Leticia Padilla, found Nova dead inside the car seven hours later.

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“She was in the parking lot, right where he said,” Padilla said.

At one point in the police body cam video, you can hear an officer say something about a person in a parking lot.

It’s unclear exactly who that officer was referring to.

“She was everything. Everybody lit up when she was around,” said Nova’s maternal grandmother, Grace Holmes.

Holmes told Washington that she doesn’t believe Whatley did enough to alert police about his daughter.

“He did not say anything,” Holmes said.

The judge set no bond in the case, but that could change once Whatley goes before a superior court judge.

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