HOUSTON - Here’s a shitty one. 3-year-old Cameron Thomas Boone was strapped into his car seat in his mother’s truck. His mother was to drop him off at a daycare before heading on to work at North Cypress Medical Center as an operation room technician. His mother forgot the daycare part.
At 3:30 in the afternoon, while investigating why her car remote wouldn’t work, she finds Cameron in the front seat. She frantically tries to get in to the truck, but cannot get it to unlock. She smashes out the back window and rushes Cameron inside the ER. But it was too late. Cameron had been dead for hours. If that wasn’t bad enough, police say the boy was fully aware of what was happening and had tried to save himself.
They say that Boone managed to get out of his car seat, found an extra key and had tried to put it in the ignition. Probably trying to mimic what he had seen his mother do numerous times before. Unfortunately, it was to no avail.
“It’s like he was trying to put a window down or open a door but was unable to,” Lt. John Denholm of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office are determining if Boone’s mother will face any charges. If she does or not, I don’t think it matters much at this point. She’s fucked for life no matter where she lives.
Oh yeah, this is the second Houston area child to die after being left in a car in 24 hours.
32 responses so far ↓
1
freakinfantastic
Aug 15, 2008 at 9:37 am -So sad
I hate reading that he knew what was happening and tried to save himself….makes me wanna cry 
2
mishdabrat
Aug 15, 2008 at 9:58 am -Heartwrenching and Horrifying.
3
captainhowdy
Aug 15, 2008 at 10:47 am -This is heartbreaking. What a total nightmare…that poor little boy. There really are no words. Just awful.
4
silvahalo
Aug 15, 2008 at 11:02 am -This is so terrible! I don’t even want to imagine what this little boy went through so desperate to get out. Here in central TX we have been on a very long stretch of 98 plus degree temps…Houston is worst because of the excessively hight temps & humidity. Most days have been 100+ for the last 40 days. Again I don’t understand how you can just FORGET your child in the same *F* car your are driving him in…it is beyond me.
Rest in peace little Cameron.
5
SweetDreams
Aug 15, 2008 at 11:03 am -This story made me cry, its so awful that he tried to save himself. I feel horrible for the mom to have to live with the mental picture of her little boy struggling to save his own life.
6
Not So Speechless
Aug 15, 2008 at 11:18 am -Oh geeze. I am so sad for this little guy, he tried so hard to save himself, another year older he might have succeeded in escaping.
OK, I’ll tell- His bio-mom isn’t the most responsible mother and she takes him sometimes now that she is clean. I read DD too much-
My grandson is four now and he can get out of his car seat and knows about the door and window locks.
I asked him to try a few months ago and he got out on his own. Don’t ask me why I did that.
7
Hippiepoet
Aug 15, 2008 at 11:32 am -Fuck, that made me cry.
8
OMalley
Aug 15, 2008 at 11:41 am -Not So Speechless:
Smart thinking! It never occurred to me before (usually the focus is on keeping them IN their carseats) but in an emergency I guess a child should know how to get out.
9
mm_classy
Aug 15, 2008 at 11:42 am -My DIL and I was just talking about this case, and I knew it would be front paged here!
How horrible that he was trying to save himself. I try to think of little ones left in a car sleeping and passing away not knowing it’s happening. Somehow this makes it easier to handle.
But to KNOW you’re dying and trying to get out, just makes me sick. I’m just in tears thinking how badly he suffered in this kind of heat.
I think the mother should face charges, there is just NO reason for someone to forget their child.
10
Not So Speechless
Aug 15, 2008 at 11:47 am -He did have a hard time with the bottom buckle- but he got it with both thumbs. He knows better than to try to get out while we are driving and his aunt and uncle (teens0 are very concientous about buckling up- so he sees the need to be protected.
11
Athena
Aug 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm -I doubt that the poor little tyke knew he wasn dying, if that’s any consolation at all. It was probably a combination of boredom and discomfort that got him moving.
I just never know how to feel about these stories. On one hand, I think, “how in god’s name can someone forget their child like that?” But, if the kid is sleeping and the parent is distracted, it’s easy enough to do. I can’t even imagine what this mother is going through. To know that he tried to make it out and actually had a chance…I just can’t even imagine.
12
Morbid
Aug 15, 2008 at 12:27 pm -Nope. Most parents have 1 gazillion things going on in their heads throughout the day and do not leave their kids in the car. I am sure, by proportion, the number of parents who lost a child due to them leaving them in a car, are insignificant when put up against the number of parents with vehicles. It’s not easy to do.
It is unfortunate, and I do feel bad for the parents, as this does seem to be an accident, but this lady cared enough about her vehicle to lock the doors, it’s just too bad she didn’t give her 3-year-old as much thought.
It has been reported that the father usually took the kid to the daycare, just not on that day. So there is some factors in why this happened. Her pattern, her routine, had an extra variable introduced…but for some reason, she did not alter her routine accordingly.
I just find it hard to excuse that. She wasn’t stopping for biscuits, or taking a new way to work, or dropping off her dry cleaning…it was her own kid, not a bag of groceries. I will never, ever understand it. This coming from a guy who leaves something at home almost every single day. My work badge, my glasses, my phone, etc. But not once in all the years that I was in charge of my son, did I ever forget about him. That wasn’t me being lucky. That was me, like the vast majority of all parents out there, putting my kid first and above all other things.
/end tired ass rant
13
missanthropic
Aug 15, 2008 at 12:32 pm -This really broke my heart.
I can’t decide if I find it more tragic when the parents purposely leave their kids in the car or really do *forget* them.
Ok, they both fucking suck.
14
SweetGutz
Aug 15, 2008 at 12:34 pm -Athena, I think the same thing in these types of cases…but, goodness, I think back to when my kiddo was a baby… you get used to surveying the back seat when you get out (I think I still do that). When I drive my nieces around, I’m even that much more conscious that they’re with me…so it’s also not about not being used to taking your baby to daycare. *sigh* Soooo sad, poor little guy.
15
April
Aug 15, 2008 at 1:10 pm -So sad. How come they are making cars that sound an alarm when a front passenger doesn’t have their seatbelt on but they cannot come up with one for a rear passenger that is still there when you put the car in park??
16
Athena
Aug 15, 2008 at 2:06 pm -Nope. Most parents have 1 gazillion things going on in their heads throughout the day and do not leave their kids in the car. I am sure, by proportion, the number of parents who lost a child due to them leaving them in a car, are insignificant when put up against the number of parents with vehicles. It’s not easy to do.
Just because most people manage to avoid a danger doesn’t mean that danger is not easy to fall victim to. I’d bet most parents don’t drop their babies. That doesn’t mean it’s not easy to do, given the right circumstances. Most drivers don’t cause head-on collisions. Doesn’t mean it’s not easy to do. I realize it’s not like loosing a set of keys (something I’ve never done…does that mean it’s not easy to do?) and that it’s not even a common occurrence, but I can certainly see how it could happen and sympathize with these people who will likely torture themselves for the rest of their days.
17
Max The Cat
Aug 15, 2008 at 3:27 pm -*sigh* How do you forget your kid man? I raised 2 of my own, and at that age, if they were out of my site for more than a couple of seconds I would drop everything and go and a search and destroy until I found them. I’m so upset right now about this poor suffering child, especially since he may have had some idea about what was going to happen to him.
18
Dakota Valkyrie
Aug 15, 2008 at 4:12 pm -Many times it seems to happen when someone is on “autopilot” (going to work) and has the kid when they usually aren’t the one getting the kid to daycare. If I had young kids, I think I would call my husband to make sure he dropped off the kid (or have him call me, as the case may be) just as a safety measure. I would also want the daycare to call me if my kid didn’t show up when they were supposed to.
Not that I think it would happen, but obviously it does. I don’t understand how it can happen because I’ve never had it happen to me. I don’t think I’ve ever walked away from my car and then said “Oh, yeah, kids!”.
19
michelle
Aug 15, 2008 at 4:35 pm -Absolutely terrible.
20
Veronica
Aug 15, 2008 at 5:36 pm -Nope. Most parents have 1 gazillion things going on in their heads throughout the day and do not leave their kids in the car. I am sure, by proportion, the number of parents who lost a child due to them leaving them in a car, are insignificant when put up against the number of parents with vehicles. It’s not easy to do. It is unfortunate, and I do feel bad for the parents, as this does seem to be an accident, but this lady cared enough about her vehicle to lock the doors, it’s just too bad she didn’t give her 3-year-old as much thought.
I have to agree with you, Morbid. She can remember to lock the doors, but doesn’t remember the kid? But locking the doors is just so automatic, right? Uh, yeah, but apparently making sure her own kid is taken care of is not so automatic.
I can see Athena’s point on a general level, but the fact that the mother will be “tortured for the rest of her days” doesn’t do much for the little boy who cooked to death in his own juices. He has to be dead as a result of her own actions to get her god damn attention?
I also find it bordering on ridiculous that the kid didn’t know he was dying. As he was cooking he tried to get out because he was “bored” and “uncomfortable?” I don’t think so. His being a little boy doesn’t mean he doesn’t know he’s dying, he felt the same thing any of us would if we were slowly dying of heat stroke. His naivete doesn’t do anything to lessen the pain.
In fact, I would submit that forgetting your own kid in the car is so unreasonable that no one who does it deserves the automatic benefit of the doubt. Fuck that. It is negligence at its worst. Why not all this compassion for people who claim to have forgotten other basic life-sustaining measures for their kids?
21
prettyuglyish
Aug 15, 2008 at 5:53 pm -This is just frightening. I know what kind of nightmare I’m having tonight. Honestly, I think if I was Cameron’s mom, I’d commit suicide.
22
jianali13
Aug 15, 2008 at 6:06 pm -I don’t see how anyone could leave a kid in a car…I didn’t drive when mine were younger but now when I park my car, I do a general sweep of the car…ya know… ok… windows up , everything locked…no sleeping kids… etc. i am ocd about it. I will check even thought I know that no kids are in the car!
And it’s been my experiance if a child around that age is awake - usually they are like ” Mommy - OUT!” and are able to unbuckle themselves… I mean.. YOU KNOW that they want OUT NOW!!
23
Athena
Aug 15, 2008 at 6:37 pm -I also find it bordering on ridiculous that the kid didn’t know he was dying. As he was cooking he tried to get out because he was “bored” and “uncomfortable?” I don’t think so. His being a little boy doesn’t mean he doesn’t know he’s dying, he felt the same thing any of us would if we were slowly dying of heat stroke. His naivete doesn’t do anything to lessen the pain.
People never know that they’re dying, unless they’ve been told, or they consciously recognize that they’re incurring injury at levels their body cannot sustain. Have you ever had heat stroke? I was an athlete in high school. I had heat stroke once. Do you know why athletes die from heat stroke? Because they don’t recognize it as deadly and keep pushing themselves. My boyfriend was also an athlete in high school. During football practice one hot day, his heart stopped. Prior to that, he exhibited ALL the signs of heat stroke, but neither he nor his coach thought to take him off the field. Then he collapsed. CLEARLY, he didn’t realize could be dying. You’re telling me that a 3 year old who may have never even heard the term “heat stroke” is somehow more aware of his situation than a 15 year old athlete?
Dakota - Thanks for putting things in more human terms. I’m sure no one can fully grasp how forgetting a child could possibly happen…until it does.
24
tricia381
Aug 15, 2008 at 7:00 pm -I forget things on the regular. I rarely ever make it out of the house with everything I need. If my mom asks me to bring her a roll of t.p. 20 minutes before I leave, I’ll most likely drive all the way to her house wihout the t.p. I am so forgetful. It’s kinda scary sometimes. But I have never ever once ‘forgot” my kids.
I usually talk to my kids when they are with me in the car. They are only 4 and 7, but whenever we are in the car or at home I am always interacting with them, always aware they are with me. Before they could hold conversations I was always scanning mirrors and making eye contact with them. I just find it weird that someone can forget a child anywhere.
I thought about that back in 2005 when I bought my Matrix. Its so annoying cause I buckle up everytime I get in the car and some people dont…like my mom or sister…and that thing is always going off. I tell them to hurry or we are going to blow up lol. It even goes off if theres a gallon of milk or 12 pack of sodas in the seat next to me.
I think its a great idea for an alarm to sound after the car is in park if something is left in the back seat. Even a light on the dashboard or being unable to lock the car up, anything to make a parent more aware.
Word.
I totally agree. It was her actions that killed her child. She, for whatever reason, had more important things going on for her. I could never live with the guilt that if I had just been more observant, if I had just checked the rearview mirror more often. Nothing would ever make me forget that my child tried in vain to free herself.
25
prettyuglyish
Aug 15, 2008 at 7:06 pm -I have never forgotten my kids in the car; however, I have forgotten that they weren’t in the car. As in, “Oh shit! I can’t be in the carpool lane.” But that’s just habit and not a conscious thought…but I usually realize my mistake within 10 seconds. What baffles me more than anything in these situations is wondering how a parent can forget their kid in the car, work their 8 hours, and not once realize what they did (or didn’t do).
I can’t say whether or not Cameron knew he was dying or not, but I’m sure as hell that he was scared and crying. That, alone, is heartbreaking enough to think about.
26
Veronica
Aug 15, 2008 at 7:24 pm -People never know that they’re dying, unless they’ve been told, or they consciously recognize that they’re incurring injury at levels their body cannot sustain. Have you ever had heat stroke? I was an athlete in high school. I had heat stroke once. Do you know why athletes die from heat stroke? Because they don’t recognize it as deadly and keep pushing themselves. My boyfriend was also an athlete in high school. During football practice one hot day, his heart stopped. Prior to that, he exhibited ALL the signs of heat stroke, but neither he nor his coach thought to take him off the field. Then he collapsed. CLEARLY, he didn’t realize could be dying. You’re telling me that a 3 year old who may have never even heard the term “heat stroke” is somehow more aware of his situation than a 15 year old athlete?
You’re missing my point…I’m not suggesting the kid said to himself, “Gee, it seems I’m dying of heat stroke here,” it’s not about identifying the cause of the suffering. It’s the suffering itself. You suggested that because the kid didn’t know what was actually happening to him, his efforts to get out must have been the result of boredom or “discomfort.” His ignorance doesn’t mean he wasn’t miserable. Not to mention alone, wondering where his own mother was and why she wasn’t helping him.
Just because athletes and coaches are too stubborn to act on heat stroke at times doesn’t lessen the misery of a three-year-old who didn’t put himself in the situation in the first place, as an athlete does. I don’t think the comparison you’re making is as apt as you’re making it out to be.
Speaking of his youthful ignorance, I’d say your “things happen” stance wouldn’t mean much to a three-year-old cooking to death.
Nothing happens “until it does.” That doesn’t mean the person it happens to shouldn’t be held accountable to something other than their own conscience. And this didn’t really “happen” to the mother, it “happened” to the child. The mother CAUSED it to “happen.” There’s a difference. Pointing out her obvious negligence doesn’t make mean I’m not looking at this in human terms, like I’m part of some irrational rabid lynch mob. That’s pretty unfair.
27
WryBread
Aug 15, 2008 at 7:48 pm -I can see how a busy parent can forget a child.
What I don’t understand is this — why don’t all parents take steps to make sure it never happens? When I first heard about this phenomenon, I thought, “I’d put a string in the car, one end tied to the baby’s seat, the other with a loop that I’d put my hand through. Then when I got out, even if I forgot baby, I wouldn’t get far because the string would stop me. Then I’d go get baby.”
Why don’t parents do something like this to help them remember? I’d be so afraid that I’d be one of those who blanks out and lets baby bake that I wouldn’t mind looking silly with some reminder.
I tie a strip of paper to my steering wheel with GAS written on it when I get too low. Maybe I’m just a cautious planner or more mistrustful of myself than others.
28
Wends
Aug 15, 2008 at 11:31 pm -Sheesh. I have a difficult time leaving my freaking Congo African Gray Parrot who’s more than adapted to any measure of the heat li’l ol’ South Carolina can give me in the car in the midst of winter, worrying to pieces that he’ll be too uncomfortable or too hot or too stuffy (or too bored, and start disassembling the nearby seat belt retractor of my precious Subaru’s passenger seat) to EVER leave him.
I can’t imagine leaving a child.
Maybe it’s because I take responsibility seriously. No matter how freaking busy I am (and trust me, I get really, really damned busy - being in the USN and having hellish working hours with ‘on-call’ demands from the job site and all), I NEVER forget to feed my animals. Or clean the litter and the cages. Or give them water. Or leave them in the vehicle (makes it awkward when you remember you need bread on the way home from shopping for parrot toys - fortunately smaller mom and pop grocery centers ’round here are more tickled by Tori’s visits than concerned about his feathery self around the produce, seeing as how he’s cleaner than most kids). And I’m the most scatterbrained imbecilic twit I know.
Suffering for the rest of her life? GOOD. Dipshit broiled her child. She shouldn’t be allowed to procreate again. Or adopt. Or be responsible for another life, even if it’s a betta in a bowl.
29
fromadistance
Aug 16, 2008 at 2:19 am -I learned from leaving $200.00 worth of groceries in the car over 10 years ago to leave my purse with the groceries when I put them in the car. Ladies leave your purse in the back with the child on the floor. After reading about this to many times I also think parents who have children, no matter who is usually in charge of the daycare trips should set and alarm to go off on their cell phones to go off 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after the child should be picked up or dropped off. And as popular as text messages are today send a text to your spouse once you have dropped the child off to let them know. If you don’t have cell phones buy a couple cheap watches so both parents have alarms going off. That way whoever has the child will be reminded.
30
1purplemoon
Aug 16, 2008 at 3:30 am -I could not even imagine how this mothers heart sank when she seen her son on the seat. I just dont understand how people can FORGET there kid. I dont even want to think what that poor little guy was thinking. I wonder how old the mother is? anyone know?
31
silvahalo
Aug 16, 2008 at 5:24 pm -I can tell you what I feel. My prayers and feelings are with the poor boy who died by his idiot, stupid, self-absorbed mother. This kind of thing is not an oops! you can make up for later. How on God’s green-earth do you FORGET your child is in the car for 10 hrs.??? *F* unbelievable. As a mom of two boys and one that is 4, damn straight, I’d handcuff myself and turn myself in as an unfit mother If I ever did this! Hell, I’d write the nastiest post on DD for being so incredibly stupid and lost my baby, for what?… No *F* excuses. People are too much in hurry, rush, rush….stop for a *F* moment and take care of the people who really matter. Like your innocent, precious child. It was her job as a mother to protect him. She will live with the reality that she failed…miserably. That is her hell.
32
xebra3_99
Aug 21, 2008 at 9:40 pm -I am very heartbroken and outraged to know that this didn’t have to happen… The mother remembered to go to work but forgot to drop off
her son at daycare. Why???!! Let this be a lesson for all parents. Don’t forget your children and leave them in a hot vehicle! Children need to be your priority!!
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