Mother charged in baby's death

[ponto]

A northeastern Kentucky mother of an 18-month-old boy found dead inside a hot van in August has been charged with manslaughter.

Toni G. Barber, 38, of Hillsboro, also faces a charge of second-degree criminal abuse. Kentucky State Police said Barber's son, Caleb Davis, was found dead Aug. 2, in Grange City in Fleming County.

State police said the autopsy report listed the boy's cause of death as hyperthermia. The report, along with new evidence, prompted Barber's arrest, troopers said, declining to reveal what the new evidence was.

When Caleb was found in the van with his sister, 2-year-old Rhenna, Barber told police she awoke and noticed them missing. Barber told troopers that the children climbed into the van on their own to play sometime early that morning and she broke a window to rescue them.

Barber was being held in the Mason County Detention Center on $100,000 cash bond on each charge.

[Foxy]

GOOD!!!!
I hope someone doesn't reduce that bond to 10%!

[mark]

................we had a thread discussing this case a few months ago. I thought she was guilty of neglect from the beginning & here's why:

Kids that are 2 & 3 years old can't open van doors & get inside. IF they managed to get the door open ( remember, merely touching the handle isn't good enough, they have to pull out the handle, pretty tough when you have to reach up to touch it ) they probably don't have the strength to push open the door to get inside.


Sorry, one doesn't have to work at CSI to figure this one out.

The defendant's argument doesn't add up.............see ya mark

[TheMan]

Yeah it was coming.. but KSP and Fleming County S.O. wanted an airtight case before she was charged. I'm sure you can understand why.

[acoolmom777]

I must be having a blonde moment...but
if he was in the van on a hot summer day/night...how could he have died from "hyperthermia"?

[JohnQ]

hypothermia, i think, is when your body temperature is too low, hyperthermia is just the opposite, too high.

[sallysue]

This is so sad..glad to hear they are gonna do something about it. Remember back a few years when a baby was left in a car in Ripley by a Maysville woman. They baby died from the heat. What ever happen on that case? I never heard.

[acoolmom777]

thank you..:o so it was like a heatstroke...I need to start reading slower...lol


hypothermia, i think, is when your body temperature is too low, hyperthermia is just the opposite, too high.

[nickleahevan]

Channel 8 news this morning said that they had drug tested her after the children were found and she had twice the amount of her prescribed medication in her system. I missed what kind of meds she was on.

This is horrible and all I can say is God help her. If she did this on purpose or not, she will have to take responsibility in the end. Unfortuanantly, these things happen everyday and all we can do is pray.

[lol]

judge walton lowered the bond to 10% or 10,000. can u believe it?

[mebabe95]

the women that had the baby that die in the car in ripley they give her probation and that was all they did that i know of ..my mom was on of the EMT on the run

[rita_772005]

I Hear They Are Going To Let Her Go Out Of Town With Her Husband 3-4 Days At A Time! Huh That Will Be A Mistake

[littlelee]

I Hear They Are Going To Let Her Go Out Of Town With Her Husband 3-4 Days At A Time! Huh That Will Be A Mistake

This is probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard of!! Why would you let a person charged with this kind of crime go out of county, let alone out of state, for 3-4 days at a time!?!? I don't think I will ever understand our justice system. Wonder what they'll think when she doesn't return from a trip????

[annie]

The case of the baby left in the car in Ripley......she served 12 days and is on probation.
I will add this particular incident caused both Ohio and Kentucky (and other states) to re-think and re-do their laws and punishments for cases such as this. Even though they are not where they need to be yet (in my humble opinion), they are tougher than they were just a few years ago.