BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Jefferson County District Attorney’s officials said Wednesday that no charges would be filed against a woman whose daughter died after being left in a hot SUV.
District Attorney Brandon Falls told AL.com (https://bit.ly/1k4bfT4 ) that he carefully reviewed the death of 11-month-old Gabriella Luong and determined that justice would not be served by sending her grieving mother, Katie Luong, to prison.
“There are those who will disagree with my decision because a child has died, and they want a sense of fairness that comes from a criminal prosecution. But my greatest duty is to do justice. The law allows me to use my prosecutorial discretion to seek that justice. In this case, based on the law and the evidence, I am deciding not to prosecute,” Al.com quoted Falls as saying.
Luong, a business owner, told authorities she was supposed to drop her daughter off at a babysitter’s house but was preoccupied with thoughts of an employee who recently committed suicide, and a close family friend who was hospitalized after having a stroke.
Police have said the temperature inside the woman’s SUV was nearly 130 degrees.
Investigators have said Luong and her husband had been trying to have a baby for years and were very distraught when they were brought in for questioning by police.
Authorities could not prove that Luong intentionally left her daughter in the vehicle, Falls said, adding that investigators couldn’t charge Luong with manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide because she didn’t appear to have consciously disregarded the risk of leaving her daughter in the hot car.
“If Katie were found guilty, what punishment could I ask for that would possibly rise to the level of punishment she has already received?” Falls asked. “Even if I were to ask for prison time, I sincerely doubt that there is any judge that would send her to prison. What would a conviction do to her, to her husband, and to her family?”
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