Dad pleads guilty to leaving 3-year-old in hot car while at work

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A father has pleaded guilty to leaving his 3-year-old son in a hot car after forgetting to drop him off at daycare last summer.

The child was found dead in the parking lot of a Vicksburg Family Fare on Aug. 13, 2024.

Deputies reported the high temperature was 83 degrees Fahrenheit that day. The inside of the car was believed to have reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The child did not survive. He was believed to have been in the vehicle for more than eight hours while Chad Martin was at work.

Kalamazoo

Father charged in son's heat exhaustion death from August

Zac Harmon

The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office tells FOX 17 sentencing guidelines for leaving a child in a vehicle causing death are normally between 15 and 25 months but they will leave it up to the judge to decide how long Martin will serve.

Martin is scheduled to be sentenced March 17.

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