Girl, 2, dies; case expected to go to DA

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, July 30, 2003 | 11:32 a.m.

A 2-year-old girl who was left in a hot car for two hours Monday died late Tuesday at University Medical Center.

ShyAnn Rayner was brought into the hospital in critical condition Monday evening and her condition never improved, hospital spokeswoman Cheryl Persinger said. She was pronounced dead at 11:44 p.m.

The Clark County coroner's office is expected to perform an autopsy today.

The girl's mother has not been arrested, said Lisa Teele, supervisor of the Metro Police abuse and neglect unit. The mother's name has not been released because she has not been charged with a crime.

Police are investigating, and Teele said this morning that she expects the case to be submitted to the Clark County district attorney's office by the end of the week.

According to police, the girl's mother went to pick up her roommate's child from school about 3:30 p.m. Monday. She had other children with her and forgot to get ShyAnn out of the car when they returned to their apartment in the 2700 block of Rainbow Boulevard.

One of the children realized ShyAnn was missing, and she was discovered in the car about 5:30 p.m. She was rescued by medics and taken to the hospital.

This is the second child since May to die after being left in a hot car.

High school teacher David Fish left his 7-month-old son in a vehicle for more than eight hours on June 5.

An investigation showed Fish did not intentionally leave his son in the vehicle -- he told police he forgot to drop his son off at day care -- and he was not charged in connection with his death.

According to statute, Roger said, a parent or caregiver is held criminally responsible for a child's death if he or she has "willfully placed their child in harm's way."

Since May, Metro Police have investigated 23 cases of children being left in hot cars, and five parents have been charged with child endangerment, a gross misdemeanor.

In the cases in which parents or caregivers were charged, police determined they knowingly left children in hot vehicles.

A Senate bill in the most recent legislative session would have made it a misdemeanor for an adult 14 or older to leave a child 7 or younger in a car alone if the car is running or if the child's safety is in danger. The bill died in Assembly.

Under the proposed law, those found guilty would also be fined $300.

Janette Fennell, president and founder of Kids and Cars, a national organization based in Kansas City, Kan., was behind the bill. She said Nevada needs a law that deals with children left in vehicles and hopes her bill will be passed eventually.

"Right now the laws are inadequate," she said. Authorities either "scold children or charge them with child endangerment. For most of these cases, neither is the right thing to do. We need a specific law about leaving kids in cars, because a slap on the wrist isn't working."

"We need to revive the bill and get it implemented immediately," she added. "How many kids have to die? How many have to end up in the emergency room?"