A toddler’s life was cut short after his father allegedly left him in a car in the Florida heat for hours while getting a haircut and drinking at a bar.
On Thursday, June 19, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) and the Ormond Beach Police Department (OBPD) arrested Scott Gardner on charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect causing great bodily harm, according to a news release. The arrest occurred nearly two weeks after the death of his 18-month-old son, Sebastian Gardner.
According to the sheriff’s office, the toddler spent more than three hours in the backseat of a “hot truck” on June 6, while his father, 33, visited Classic Cuts and Hanky Panky’s Lounge, a barbershop and cocktail lounge located near each other in Ormond Beach.
The Florida father allegedly left Sebastian in the truck’s backseat with the windows down, no air conditioning, and a small, battery-powered fan pointed at the toddler, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said during an emotional news briefing on Friday, June 20.
According to the timeline provided by investigators, Scott allegedly left Sebastian in the vehicle around 11:30 a.m. on his way to get a haircut. After finishing his haircut, he went to Hanky Panky’s around noon and stayed and drank until at least 2 p.m., according to police.
During his time at the bar, a customer “backed into a bartender’s car,” prompting Scott to go outside and investigate the damage, according to investigators. He did not check on Sebastian before returning to the bar to order more drinks, according to Chitwood.
Around 2:40 p.m., Gardner left Hanky Panky’s, drove a “short distance” home, and then called 911 to report that Sebastian was not breathing, according to Chitwood.
“My son is not breathing. A year and a half. Oh, my God. He just kept his eyes open. The father says, “Oh my god, Sebastian,” in a 911 call recording. However, investigators stated that the toddler died one to two hours before his father contacted authorities.
Following the call, an OBPD officer arrived at the scene but was unable to perform CPR because the toddler’s body had already entered rigor mortis, according to Chitwood. The 18-month-old was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. after becoming unresponsive.
When the toddler arrived at the hospital, his temperature was over 107 degrees, prompting medical personnel to estimate that the temperature in the vehicle peaked at 111 degrees, Chitwood said.
After Sebastian was pronounced dead and the investigation into the June 6 incident began — with Scott’s account conflicting with hospital staff’s assessment — the toddler’s father returned to Hanky Panky’s for drinks, according to the sheriff.
Scott and his mother stayed at the bar until “almost midnight,” he explained. Witnesses at the bar reported that the couple “did not seem as distraught as you would expect someone to be for the child having just passed,” according to one investigator in the news briefing. This “is consistent with the interactions that we had with [Scott] at the hospital.”
Investigators also stated in the June 20 news briefing that they do not believe Scott’s mother was informed of her grandson’s death at that time.
According to the sheriff’s office, Scott eventually confessed, but it came after he “gave multiple false accounts of what occurred” the day of his son’s death.
“This father is a human piece of garbage,” Chitwood stated during the news briefing. “And he is a lying sack of s—.”
“There is no logical reason why this little guy is dead,” Chitwood said of the toddler, adding that the situation “absolutely shocks the conscience.”
“We have seen it, people forget their kids in the back seat, but this was completely different,” the deputy replied. “This was deliberate. That is what the charges are for.
