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A former Mississippi cop faces up to 20 years in prison for leaving her 3-year-old daughter to die inside a hot car while she had sex at her supervisor’s house, multiple outlets report.
On Monday, Cassie Barker, 29,pleaded guilty to culpable negligence manslaughterin the death of her daughter, Cheyenne Hyer, inside her patrol car in 2016, CBS News reports.
The former Long Beach officeraccepted the plea agreement to a lesser chargeafter initially being indicted for second-degree murder, theBiloxi Sun Heraldreports.
The child died on Sept. 30. 2016, after Barkerwent to the home of her supervisor, Clark Ladner,to talk to him at the end of her shift and ended up having sex with him, CBS affiliate WLOX reports.
She left the car running with the air conditioner on to combat the 100-degree temperature, but the vent wasn’t blowing cold air, CBS News reports.
She fell asleep in Ladner’s home and left her daughter strapped in her car seat for four hours in the sweltering heat.
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Prosecutors are recommending 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on April 1.
“I don’t know what I could ever do to you that could be worse than what you’ve already experienced,” Harrison County Circuit Judge Larry Bourgeois told her in court, WLOX reports. “You will forever be entombed in a prison of your own mind.”
Barker and Ladner were fired after the child’s death, theSun Heraldreports.
Cheyenne’s father, Ryan Hyer, says he still cannot believe his daughter is dead.
“As a parent, you are supposed to protect your child, and Cheyenne is gone because her mother didn’t protect her, not once but twice,” Hyer said. “May God have mercy on her soul.”
An attorney for Barker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go towww.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
