Connecticut Father Kyle Seitz Drove With Son In Car, Unaware Child Was Dead Or Dying, Documents Say

A FATHER whose 15-month-old son died after being left in the car on a hot day drove the vehicle three times before he noticed the boy dead in the back seat, the court has heard.

Connecticut man Kyle Seitz, forgot to drop off his son Benjamin at day care on the way to work on July 7th, reports FoxCT.

The boy died of hyperthermia after being left alone in the car for seven hours, as temperatures hit 88F.

Seitz has been charged with criminally negligent homicide, which is punishable by a maximum one year in prison, reports The Courant.

Tragic death ... Benjamin Seitz, who was 15 months old, died after his father left him in a hot car all day after forgetting to drop the toddler off at day care. Picture: The Gift of Ben Source: Supplied

Charged ... Kyle Seitz, right, stands for arraignment with his attoey John Gulash in Danbury Superior Court on Nov. 12, 2014, in Danbury, Connecticut. Picture: AP /Danbury News-Times, H John Voorhees III Source: AP

Software programmer Seitz missed the tu-off to Benjamin’s day care and stopped off to get coffee on the way to work instead. He later drove to get lunch without noticing his son in the car, according to the arrest warrant.

After work, he went to the day care centre to collect his boy around 5pm, only to be told by staff that Benjamin had not been there that day.

He then ‘walked out heading to his car in the parking lot and began walking faster,” according to the warrant.

Seitz told police he felt “shock and terror” when he found his son’s “motionless” body in the back seat. The child was in a rear-facing child safety seat, reports The Courant.

After finding Ben’s lifeless body, Seitz rushed the boy to Danbury Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Seitz tued himself in to police this week after leaing there was a warrant for his arrest.

“He continues to have the support of his family and close friends,” Seitz’s lawyer John Gulash told New York Daily News this week. “It’s a difficult time for everyone.”

Seitz’s wife Lindsey Rogers-Seitz has said she believes it was a tragic accident and called him “an amazing father”. The couple have two daughters, aged 6 and 8.

“I love my husband,” Mrs Roger-Seitz said in July. “Of course I forgive him. But it doesn’t mean that our lives aren’t different now. So we have to move forward with a new, different reality for us, and it’s always going to bet that way.”

Mrs Rogers-Seitz has set up a blog, The Gift of Ben, in memory of Benjamin, and is now an advocate to raise awareness of the dangers of leaving children in hot cars.