Georgia dad Davied Whatley was charged with second-degree murder in connection to the death of his young daughter after he left his eight-month-old baby in a hot car while he was being arrested at a police station.
Authorities believe Whatley's baby, Nova Grace Whatley-Trejo, was in the vehicle for hours on Tuesday, May 3. Snellville Police Detective Jeff Manley told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday, May 4, that the girl's grandmother was the one who found the baby in the hot car. NBC News reported that she took the child to the hospital sometime before 10 p.m.
According to Manley, the girl's father arrived at the Snellville Police Department around 2 p.m. on Tuesday to retrieve his firearm seized by authorities in an unrelated incident. Manley said that unbeknownst to police, the 20-year-old Whatley had left his baby daughter in a car parked two buildings away at the City Hall.
Whatley did not inform the police that he left his baby in the car
Manley explained at the news conference that firearms are not returned until cops conduct a background check to make sure the person is not a convicted felon. During the mandatory inspection, police officers discovered that Whatley had a warrant for probation violation. According to the Daily Mail, they immediately arrested him at the police station.
Manley said that Whatley was captured on video from the time he arrived at the station to the moment he was transported and released to deputies at the Gwinnett County Detention Center. Manley added that Whatley made no reference to Snellville police that his eight-month-old daughter was in the vehicle during that time.
Manley said the baby was only found in the hot car after Whatley alerted the child's grandmother. The rescue was too late, though, as Manley said the baby was already dead when the grandmother found her inside the hot car.
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Temperatures reached 86 degrees near Snellville
Manley did not provide details about how or when Whatley was able to contact the baby's grandmother. According to data from the National Weather Service, temperatures in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon reached a high of 86 degrees. The city of Atlanta is located about 30 miles northeast of Snellville, where baby Nova Grace was found dead.
Manley told WYFF that he is astounded that somebody would leave an 8-month-old in a car and park away from their building and walk up to the police station knowing that child was in the car and leave them there.
Whatley was bonded out of jail on Tuesday night on the warrant charge. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, he was re-arrested though on Wednesday on a charge of second-degree murder. It is still not clear at this point if Whatley has obtained an attorney.
