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Florida father arrested after son left in truck for 8 hours

Florida authorities have charged a father with aggravated manslaughter after his 23-month-old son was left in his pickup truck for eight hours.

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Identified as Troy Whitaker, 41, a fire fighter at Hillsborough County Fire Department, he left home with his five-year-old daughter and his toddler son on Friday morning. When he came out at 3:30 he entered the truck and says that he did not see Lawson.

Whitaker then drove back home, leaving Lawson inside the auto throughout the day while he studied for a promotional exam for the fire department, the sheriff said.

His body temperature had reached 108 degrees, said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. “He was taking the groceries out of the front passenger seat and immediately dropped the bags – there are groceries all over the driveway – and then went and took the child out of the vehicle seat”. Whitaker returned home from the grocery store about 4:30 p.m., and was unloading groceries from the truck when he discovered Lawson unresponsive in the back seat of the truck.

Whitaker told deputies he thought he had dropped his son off at daycare earlier in the morning, the email noted.

Troy Whitaker, 41, was charged with manslaughter over the death of his son, Lawson, on Friday. He began giving CPR to Lawson, but told deputies the boy was blue and not breathing. Lawson was pronounced dead at the hospital soon after. He dropped the bags on the driveway, the sheriff said.

The boy’s mother was at the hospital Friday evening with other family members, he added.

So far this year 28 children have died of heat-related causes from being left inside vehicles, according to KidsandCars.org, an education and awareness group. Already this year, 29 children – including the boy who died Friday – have died under those circumstances, the university said.

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The National Safety Council recommends parents put something in the backseat, such as a bag or cell phone, to remind them not to leave children inside.

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