NEWS

Hot car death charge to be reduced

Sarah Fowler
Clarion Ledger

Charges are expected to be  reduced  against the man whose infant daughter died after being left in a hot car.

Joshua Blunt, 25, was charged with second-degree murder Thursday in the death of 8-month-old Shania Caradine after he left the infant in a car while he went to work.

Monday afternoon, Blunt's attorney, Carlos Moore, said Blunt's charge is expected to be amended and reduced to culpable negligence.

Grenada City Prosecutor Jennifer Adams confirmed that the charge is expected to be amended but declined to comment further.

Blunt is to appear in Grenada Municipal Court Tuesday for his initial appearance. Moore said he will ask for Blunt to be released on his own recognizance.

"It's a miscarriage of justice for him to be sitting in jail," he said.

Culpable negligence carries up to one year in prison, Moore said.

While Moore feels culpable negligence is a "more appropriate charge," he vowed to fight that as well.

"We still don't think (Blunt) deserves to do any time in prison," he said.

Grenada Deputy Police Chief George Douglas previously said police conducted an "extensive investigation" before charging Blunt.

Moore said "blatant racism" is the reason Blunt was charged with a crime.

Monday morning Moore said, "The people making the decisions are white. It's unquestionably related to racism. If this man had been any other color besides black I believe he would be at home, grieving like a normal father and preparing for a funeral."

Grenada Police Chief Garrett Hartley and Grenada County District Attorney Doug Evans did not return multiple calls seeking comment.

Less than two weeks before Shania's death, 2-year-old Caroline Bryant died after she was left in a hot car by her mother, who is white. Charges have not been filed related to the toddler's death.

Heath Hall, spokesperson for the Madison County Sheriff's Department, said that case would be investigated then handed to the district attorney.

"We said from the very first press conference that we were going to investigate this, hand it over to the district attorney and if the district attorney decides to take it to the grand jury it will go from there," Hall said.

When reached Monday afternoon, Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest's office said the sheriff's department had not yet handed over Bryant's case file.

RELATED: Can hot car deaths be prevented? 

Shania's cause of death has not been determined but the infant was "hyperthermic," according to Grenada Deputy Coroner Jo Morman.

According to Moore, Blunt went to work at 333 Restaurant in Grenada at 9 a.m. Thursday. Blunt left the restaurant at 11 a.m. to pick up his girlfriend and take her to her job at KFC. While her parents worked, Shania was going to stay with her grandmother. However, after he dropped his girlfriend off at her job, Blunt went back to his job at 333 Restaurant, forgetting the infant was in her car seat in the backseat.

"He thought he had dropped the child off at her grandmother's house," Moore said. "He had no idea the child was in there."

Blunt clocked back into work at 11:40 a.m. He clocked out at 3:40 p.m., and he and a co-worker walked out to his car.

The co-worker opened the backdoor to put a bag in the backseat and saw the infant, reportedly telling Blunt, "Oh, my god, Josh, you left your baby in the car."

According to Moore, the infant was still alive when she was discovered by Blunt and his co-worker.

Blunt screamed and took his daughter out of the backseat, Moore said. Employees from the restaurant provided cold clothes and wrapped the infant in them until first responders arrived. Shania was transported via ambulance to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Grenada.

CPR was administered for "a couple hours" before her death was pronounced, Morman said.

Moore said Blunt is a "basket case" and "very distraught."

Moore empathizes with his client, saying he, too, left his daughter in a car. With similar circumstances, Moore's wife asked him to drop his 2-year-old off at daycare. Instead, Moore drove straight to work, unknowingly leaving the child in the back. Several minutes later, his car made an alert and he rushed outside to find his daughter in the backseat.

"I could have dropped dead knowing I had forgotten to take her to daycare," he said.

Taking his own experience into account and the fact the district attorney and the police chief are white and Blunt is black, Moore said he believes Blunt should have never been arrested.

"It’s just blatant racism," he said. "In America, in 2016, it should not be the case. It’s just not right."

Contact Sarah Fowler at sfowler@gannett.com or 601-961-7303. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.