The 3-year-old daughter of a Mississippi police officer is now dead after she was left inside the patrol car of her mother for hours. Accordingly, the officer was visiting another official.
According to Time, the officer was identified as Cassie Barker of Long Beach. Her daughter was identified as Cheyenne Hyer. She was left inside the car after Barker ended her patrol shift on Friday morning. Emergency officials were then called at the scene and saw Hyer unresponsive. Paramedics made life-saving efforts on the child for 40 minutes, but she was pronounced dead later at a nearby hospital.
It remains unclear what led to the circumstances as to why the child was inside the patrol car of her mother and why Barker did not remember her child being inside the car before she went to visit the other officer. Barker is said to be in the hospital and is dealing with trauma due to the death of Hyer.
Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell said in a statement that he was shocked and devastated. He added, "As you can imagine, something that I really can't see any excuse for." The child was reportedly left in the car for at least four hours.
Barker has been suspended by the department as well as the officer she was visiting, Clark Ladner. However, they were terminated on Tuesday but it also was not detailed as to why they were fired. McDowell said in a statement that the officers violated department policy because family members are not allowed in the patrol car except if they are going to or coming from work to drop the child off at childcare.
The child was reportedly left in the car with the air conditioner on. It is unknown what the relationship of Ladner and Barker is, the Washington Post reported.
A crime lab in Jackson, Mississippi is yet to determine her cause of death but it would reportedly take some time before that will be revealed.
The father of Hyer, Ryan, said that he and Barker separated after being together for two years. He said that upon hearing of his daughter's death, he lost all feeling and could not speak or breathe. He also said that he was angry. He has created a GoFundMe page for his child.
