MANNS HARBOR
The deaths of two children in a hot car are being investigated by the North Carolina Division of Social Services as well as the Dare County Sheriff's Office, officials confirmed Monday.
Dare County Sheriff's Office Lt. Bill Godley said the case would be handed over to the district attorney, who will decide whether it requires further investigation. Godley said that the prosecutor is routinely called in when deaths are involved.
"We're working this case as a very tragic accident," he said. "We're not working any criminal case at this time."
Nineteen-month-old Kassandra Daniels and 2-1/2 -year-old Amariyah Daniels were discovered Friday in a neighbor's car in which the temperature had reached 135 degrees. Kassandra died shortly after they were found, and Amariyah died early Saturday morning. The car had been parked near the mobile home that their mother, Amy Lynn Cooper, was renting.
Jay Burrus, director of the Dare County Department of Social Services, said Cooper's two oldest children were under the custody of social services at the time. Four-year-old Kendrick and Amariyah had been placed by the court with their mother, he said. Kassandra, he said, was in her mother's custody.
Social services in Currituck County has been asked to investigate the deaths because of a conflict of interest in Dare, Burrus said. The state also is investigating, he said.
Burrus said he could not comment on the circumstances that had led to social services' involvement with the family. Social services has set up a "protection plan" for the 4-year-old with relatives in Dare County, he said.
"In general, children come into our custody because of abuse, neglect or dependencies," he said. "In these kinds of cases, we make recommendations to the court on placement, but the courts make the decisions on placement."
The Dare social services Web site says dependency means a child needs help or placement because there is no parent or guardian or because a parent or guardian is unable to provide care and there is no other arrangement available.
The children have been with their mother most of the time in recent months, Burrus said. He could not comment on the involvement of the father, Shawn Daniels, with the children, he said.
It took deputies about 15 minutes to find the children in the unlocked car after arriving at the scene at 3:06 p.m. Friday, Godley said. The vehicle was parked within 50 feet of their mobile home.
Cooper told police that the children had been missing about 20 minutes, Godley said. She said that she remembered all three children last being with her at about 12:45 p.m., he said. He said it is not clear what was going on before police were called at 2:50 p.m.
The children had apparently gone outside to play, and when Cooper asked the 4-year-old where the other two children were, he responded that they were either "inside the pool" or "around the pool," Godley said.
Godley said there was a small wading pool by the trailer, but police learned later that there was an above-ground pool in the neighborhood. The Croatan Sound also is nearby.
Cooper and her children had recently moved to the neighborhood.
A service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Free Grace Church of Christ Disciples of Christ in Manteo.
Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com
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to Mr. L Henderson
I don't know how you can't think this mother is negligent and shouldn't be punished. I believe the article says "The children have been with their mother most of the time in recent months" and "She said that she remembered all three children last being with her at about 12:45 p.m., he said. He said it is not clear what was going on before police were called at 2:50 p.m." Again, I'm sorry if you think I'm being unfair but I believe Child Protective Services were already involved with this family which means something was already wrong with the situation. Second, how do you not know where your kids are for two hours before you look or call someone?.... I just don't get it and I do believe the facts stated in the article and in this post show that this was not the most fit mother. I feel bad for the loss of the two innocent children and the rest of the family. May the beautiful little girls be at peace where they are.
Public Court
For those who are piling on sanctimoniously with such prejudice- imitating the Nancy Grace show- may I remind you that you don't get paid to pompously foam at the mouth.
The facts, what I have heard so far, are certainly exonerating, and when you find out what the FACTS are, you should hang your head in shame for what you have said here. If American Civics were still taught in school, you would know better.
No mother could possibly have a greater punishment than what Amy Cooper is suffering. She buried her babies today. You wouldn't say much about it if those babies had been killed in CPS custody. Would you?
Leonard Henderson, Co-Founder
American Family Rights Association
http://familyrights.us
Promoting the Fundamental Liberty Rights & Privileges of Families
"Until Every Child Comes Home©"
These Precious Children
It's true the mom will suffer the rest of her life with mental anguish even though it was not intentional. I had two boys myself and would never in a millions years let children THAT SMALL be out of my site. The front and back doors would be locked and if they went outside, I went with them. Children have no knowledge of what is dangerous or not. And a pool nearby!! For goodness sake, what was she thinking? She is responsible for being negligent. Those poor kids sweltering in a hot car. No child should ever be left to run outside without supervision at all times. You don't let them out of your sight because something can happen so quickly as it did. This could have been avoided. I am truly sorry for those kids and the mom.
A. Beck
Chesapeake
WOW
This story truely is heartbreaking. I do pray for the mother, the father, the whole family. It just goes to show, children are just that, CHILDREN!!!! Nowa days parents give their young ones too much responsibility and forget yeah their only 2 or 5, even7 and 8. We as parents just need to learn from this and if you don't then shame on you!!! Its just terrible, but who are we to wish them back into this cruel world, at least now their in heaven.
so sad
it is so sad and tragic to hear of something so beautiful and young gone from this earth.they have their places in heaven.to leave children so young unattended is pure neglect on whoever was supposed to be watching them.they can get away from you so fast.
Where....
....was the mother while these 3 children were outside? It's bad enough that they were sent outside to play unattended, but according to the article there was also a pool nearby?
I don't mean to add to the mother's grief in all of this, but I really hope she suffers some consequences for her lack of attention.
"I know our culture has changed drastically."
Now that's an understatement. Parents don't take responsibility for their children anymore. Children aren't being taught respect, morals, ethics, good behavior, etc. That's my 2 cents on our sorry society.
Now on to these children...I cannot imagine the grief and heartache this family is going through losing 2 beautiful children. This will always be with them. Healing will take a lifetime.
Have compassion, not condemnation
I know our culture has changed drastically. I know we have to shift our paradigms regarding the care and nurturing of our children. But, I also know that if we smother our children, if we over protect them, we dampen their learning abilities.
I remember an era when I was young, it was normal during the summer that I would be out the door in the morning and oft times would not return until evening supper. But I was certainly older than these children were and those days are long gone.
The mother is going through a very horrific time in her life right now. This will haunt her for all her days. My heart breaks for her. She has already been handed a life sentence. She will be going through mental, emotional, and psychological struggles for the rest of her life. Unless there was absolute criminal intent, I believe that pursuing legal action is the wrong approach. Pray for her…don’t condemn her.
sad
My heart goes out to all people involved, I really dislike hearing stories about innocent children being harmed, killed, abducted or anything. Im a mother of a VERY ACTIVE 2 year old, If me or her father isnt outside watching her there is no way that she will be out there, especially with a 4 year old watching her if that is what he was supposed to be doing, you cant trust a 4 year old to watch two babies, he is still a baby himself. Im not trying to attack the mother or father or whoever but why werent they out there supervising them? Especially with a body of water near whether it was small or large, children can drown in a bathtub very easily. And those dont think a 2 year old cant open a car door, trust me they can because my daughter can open up ours and we have a suv, so it can happen.... But this is a sad sad story it really should be a lesson learned to NEVER LET YOUR CHILDREN OUT OF YOUR SIGHT NOT EVEN FOR A MINUT
Earlier this week . . .
I made a mistake by not remembering that the posting guidelines prohibit anything that would add to the grief of a victim of a tragedy (because they can read these comments, too!). I was trying to say something positive (that I hoped the mama would not be taken to task by the legal system), but I inadvertantly ended up "piling on" in a way that no one should have to hear on the way to the funeral of their two children, no matter how they died. So I will just say that I am very sorry to hear about these two beautiful little girls dying. I trust that the authorities in Dare County can do the right thing to help everyone concerned. Cheers, MGM
Questions
Although these deaths may not have been intentional, they certainly were preventable. The timeline in this story leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Given the information provided in this story, as well as the intial story in the Pilot, I would surmise that Mom wasn't as diligent as she should have been when caring for her children. I support a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of these little girls.
ADULT SUPERVISION
Any child left to their own devices without constant adult supervision is an accident waiting to happen! I find it hard to call this an accident, a better descriptive term would be felony child neglect!
It just goes to show you
It just goes to show you that you can never be too careful with a child. I'd rather be paranoid, like I am, than have my child missing or harmed in any way. Let this tragic event be a lesson to parents everywhere, including myself. Watch your children!!!
So sad
It really is a sad story. The loss of two beautiful little girls. I still dont understand why their mother was not watching them. If the Croatan Sound was nearby that alone would be a good reason to keep a close eye on toddlers.
punishment enough....
I don't have children so I cannot know how hard it is to keep up with them. But even if I did, I cannot imagine three kids (especially those ages) not at least being within ear shot of me. I think that there was definately some negligence here, but what punishment can any agency hand down that touches the loss of two chilren? These parents will have to live the rest of their lives knowing they could have done more to ensure the safety of those two little girls. We sit here and read stories in print and form opinions, at least we have that option.
My prayers go out to this
My prayers go out to this family,this is tragic.
But why were these children out alone????? My children were never aloud out unless an adult was with them.When they turned 5&6, we got a fenced in backyard,they were then aloud out for short periods of time alone,like when whoever was watching them had to go inside to get them something to drink or potty breaks.Their dog was also always present.Even when they got older & played with friends out front an adult was always either outside or watching from a window.
I also find it hard to believe a 2year old could open & shut the car door alone.Where was the 4 y/o ? did he help?
Sad story
This is truly a sad story. Parents really need to be more aware of what their small children are doing at all times. The children should not have been outside without constant adult supervision-with heatstroke, attempted and successful abductions, children's tendency to venture off, speeding cars in residential neighborhoods, etc., a child should not be playing alone. I feel for the parents. I hope people posting to this board can refrain from the stereotypes, because, honestly, parental negligence has already become a universal problem, not one confined to any group.