Baby dies in car in Arizona as father smokes drugs

Father charged with manslaughter and child abuse

Daniel Bryant Gray (31), who was booked into jail in Maricopa County, Arizona,  and charged with manslaughter and child abuse. Photograph: AP Photo/Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office
Daniel Bryant Gray (31), who was booked into jail in Maricopa County, Arizona, and charged with manslaughter and child abuse. Photograph: AP Photo/Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

A father whose baby son died after being left in a parked car in the heat was smoking marijuana next to the car with a co-worker part of the time, police said.

Daniel Bryant Gray (31) was booked into an Arizona jail charged with manslaughter and child abuse, Sgt Tommy Thompson said.

Police said three-month- old Jamison Dean Gray was pronounced dead at a hospital on Wednesday. At first, police said the father was distracted and forgot about the boy.

However, a court document released today said investigators learned from an unidentified witness that Gray and another employee had been standing next to Gray’s car and apparently smoking marijuana.

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The employee, who was not identified by police, said he didn’t notice the baby in the car and didn’t know Gray was a father.

“There’s no question” that Gray didn’t intend his son to die, a prosecutor said during an initial court hearing. However, Gray has a criminal history of substance abuse, and he was grossly negligent, Deputy Maricopa County Attorney George Kelemen jnr said. – (AP)