Foster baby left in minivan dies
By Christian Boone, Craig Schneider
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, September 04, 2008
A 9-month-old girl died Tuesday after her foster mother said she forgot the infant, hot inside a minivan for more than two hours, officials said.
Jackson County sheriffs deputies are still investigating Wendy Osbornes account.
The 29-year-old Nicholson woman told Jackson County Sheriff deputies that she came home from a doctors appointment about 2:30 p.m., unloaded her two adopted girls but forgot about the baby in the car seat.
Osborne, a foster parent for five years, said she took a nap, waking about 5 p.m. Maj. David Cochran of the Sheriffs Department said at that point she remembered the baby in the minivan.
State Child Advocate Tom Rawlings identified the girl as Jessica Marie Scovil. The infant, who had lived with Osborne for five months, was pronounced dead by emergency personnel called to the scene, Cochran said.
Osborne told deputies she had been sick for several days and was prescribed medication for strep throat, which may have contributed to her drowsiness.
A toxicology report has been ordered, and charges could be filed.
Two other foster children who had been living with Osborne were removed from the home, Cochran said.
The state Division of Family and Children Services, which oversees the foster care system, also is investigating the death, said spokeswoman Dena Smith. She said there had been no indications of problems with Osborne as foster mother.
Rawlings said if Osbornes version is correct, he would tend to oppose criminal charges.
I usually look at these kinds of situations as there but for the grace of God go I, he said.,
By Christian Boone, Craig Schneider
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, September 04, 2008
A 9-month-old girl died Tuesday after her foster mother said she forgot the infant, hot inside a minivan for more than two hours, officials said.
Jackson County sheriffs deputies are still investigating Wendy Osbornes account.
The 29-year-old Nicholson woman told Jackson County Sheriff deputies that she came home from a doctors appointment about 2:30 p.m., unloaded her two adopted girls but forgot about the baby in the car seat.
Osborne, a foster parent for five years, said she took a nap, waking about 5 p.m. Maj. David Cochran of the Sheriffs Department said at that point she remembered the baby in the minivan.
State Child Advocate Tom Rawlings identified the girl as Jessica Marie Scovil. The infant, who had lived with Osborne for five months, was pronounced dead by emergency personnel called to the scene, Cochran said.
Osborne told deputies she had been sick for several days and was prescribed medication for strep throat, which may have contributed to her drowsiness.
A toxicology report has been ordered, and charges could be filed.
Two other foster children who had been living with Osborne were removed from the home, Cochran said.
The state Division of Family and Children Services, which oversees the foster care system, also is investigating the death, said spokeswoman Dena Smith. She said there had been no indications of problems with Osborne as foster mother.
Rawlings said if Osbornes version is correct, he would tend to oppose criminal charges.
I usually look at these kinds of situations as there but for the grace of God go I, he said.,