Alabama Parents Guilty of Manslaughter After Passing Out, Leaving 2-Year-Old Son to Die in Hot Car

Patrick and Melinda King.Photo: Houston County Jail

The parents of an Alabama boy who died in 2019 after being left for hours inside a car on a hot June day have pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter, according to local reports.

The reports indicate his ex-wife, 40-year-old Melinda King, received the same four-year sentence in August after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Castiel King, 2, died on June 28, 2019. Temperatures that day in Dothan topped 90 degrees, officials said.

Inside the vehicle itself, officials estimated temperatures reached 120 degrees.

Detectives believe that Castiel climbed into his parents' unlocked Mazda sports car at around 3:15 p.m. that day.

An older sibling found him dead four hours later.

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According to the reports, authorities had said the couple nodded off after drinking and smoking marijuana at their home in Dothan.

Castiel found his way outside, and entered the car, but then couldn’t get out.

The boy was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The parents had initially pleaded not guilty, but reversed their pleas ahead of the starts of their respective trials.

source: people.com