'It's just overwhelming for everybody'

It's a HUGE mistake that NEVER SHOULD'VE HAPPEN...as I forstated, this wasn't a loaf of bread or a pint of ice cream left in a car, it was a BABY...How the heck do you get the packages out of a car, but forget the BABY??? REGARDLESS of WHO'S at fault, their guilt of losing a child just doesn't suffice for me as "justice"... Now saying that, if I were in Wal-Mart & had my puppy in a locked car with the windows cracked, vehicle running with the a/c on BLAST...charges would apply EVEN if I were in there for 1 minute picking up a RX that was READY for pick up or to get a bag of ice for a sprained knee (that's visible to all by the bandage & the crutches that I bear). That's not criminal either but OUTRAGE & CHARGES would apply to me as well. FURTHER MORE..I DO have compassion... I have compassion for the BABY... She should NOT HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED!!! 3 HOURS???? and a younger sibling asks about the missing baby???? THAT makes alot of sense... NOT!!! This PISSES ME OFF... It happens year after year...

Voice of Reason wrote:

<quoted text>
Your post actually underlines the root discussion. You lead off by saying charges need to be filed which implies criminal liability. You close by saying this was a huge mistake.
The question is: Are mistakes criminal?
Half the posters believe there is no excuse for this mistake and their baby's death demands more punitive measures be taken; i.e. speaking for the baby.
The other half recognize that although the baby died as a result of a chain of events that should not have happened, believe that the parents are suffering enough and that the behavior leading up to the baby's death is not ongoing that it needs adjusting.
Without knowing all the facts and only going on what has been reported in the article, I still say that not all mistakes should be criminalized.
Take a lesson from the Amish, help these people in coping with actions that killed their baby horribly rather than adding to their suffering. Unless you can prove these are bad parents, show a little compassion.

It's a HUGE mistake that NEVER SHOULD'VE HAPPEN...as I forstated, this wasn't a loaf of bread or a pint of ice cream left in a car, it was a BABY...How the heck do you get the packages out of a car, but forget the BABY??? REGARDLESS of WHO'S at fault, their guilt of losing a child just doesn't suffice for me as "justice"... Now saying that, if I were in Wal-Mart & had my puppy in a locked car with the windows cracked, vehicle running with the a/c on BLAST...charges would apply EVEN if I were in there for 1 minute picking up a RX that was READY for pick up or to get a bag of ice for a sprained knee (that's visible to all by the bandage & the crutches that I bear). That's not criminal either but OUTRAGE & CHARGES would apply to me as well. FURTHER MORE..I DO have compassion... I have compassion for the BABY... She should NOT HAVE BEEN NEGLECTED!!! 3 HOURS???? and a younger sibling asks about the missing baby???? THAT makes alot of sense... NOT!!! This PISSES ME OFF... It happens year after year...

An accident, really? come on. how can you forget about your 15month old child. a child who is active, walking, doing some talking and into everything. but you forget her in the car ???? give me a break. that is one the most ridiculous things i have ever heard. so its ok because he is a pastor ? its easier to forgive ? because he is a man of god. it is absolutely negligence on both parents parts. so the air conditioner was on..so they left a 15month old child in the car with the keys in it, oh, and wait a minute, it was also running. BULL****!!! "He is really distraught and feels some guilt," Bloss said of the father. what kind of statement is that. "SOME GUILT" !!! just some guilt.. not a whole lot. oh my gosh !! so ok, if the air was on, she still died ? because of heat stroke ? hhmm.. interesting. I cant believe this story. i am just beside myself for this child. helpless, left in the hands of total idiots.

7Blessings wrote:

Have you ever left your child momentarily in the car while you went to an ATM just a few feet away? Have you ever went inside a gas station to quickly pay for your gas or to buy a soda and leave your child just for a ‘moment’, making sure the car was always in sight? Have you ever allowed your child to play outside while you attended to something inside? Have you ever walked to your mailbox while your child was napping? Have you ever left a child buckled in a car seat while you unloaded groceries or left your child unattended in the house while you went out to get the groceries? Have you ever went 5 MPH over the speed limit with your child in the car? How about speeding up to beat a red light with your child in the car? Have you ever had a miscommunication with your spouse?
Who is to say that these situations can be considered an accident while the other is considered negligent? They are all either considered accidents or negligence – one or the other.
Can anyone honestly say that this has never happened to them?
We should be praying for this family. We should not be condemning them. This should make all parents more aware and make us that much more on our ‘toes’. You or I could be next.

7blessings...I understand you fully as I read your post..No disrespect to you or your thoughts.. It's a posibility that WE as humans are guilty of 1 or a few of what you wrote above...but THAT'S NOT the issue at hand. I've NEVER left my kids in a car alone for a moment... It's PROFANE to compare a kid left alone in the car "for a moment" to a baby "trapped"...(I say trapped instead of strapped b/c she couldn't release herself from the harness even if she tried) in a car seat for 3 HOURS ALONE in a HOT car with the windows rolled up. Yes, I've walked to my mailbox while my child was taking a nap but it didn't take me 3 hours to do so & KNOW that I check on him upon my return into the house. Sure we have all had miscommunications with our spouses as well as with others, but when it comes to MY children, my motherly instinct will have me check to be rest assured that ALL things are in order...You don't have to drive 5 mph over the speed limit, or zoom up to beat the red light to be in a car accident with your child in the vehicle....It can be SOMEONE elses negligence. We can go on and on with the examples & the would've, should've could've for this or any tradegy...but this will not bring that baby back..Prayer is ALL we can do at this point, but someone should be charged. This happens time and time again..year after year..Children are a PRECIOUS GIFT from GOD & people should be held accountable for their actions...

It kills me how people are on this witch hunt. I just bet all of you condemning these people would have been the same people at the salem witch trials to want to burn the witches at the stake. Little did these witch hunters know that they acted on sheer ignorance. The weather was ideal for mold to grow on the wheat and so it did in the form of ergot. Then all the people that ingested anything that contained wheat went "crazy". For all of the ignorant people out there..ergot is a major hallucinigenic. These people were tripping on poisenous amounts of ergot and then being burnt to the stake because they were sick. But hey we have to "blame".. and someone always has to pay...but I bet each of you would be begging for mercy had it been you that made such a tragic "mistake"...I know how dare I say "mistake". None of you were there and magically have this perfect idea and insight to what "may" have happened. You are the same hypocrites who would have nailed Jesus to the cross without thinking twice

This was no accident. Why does this world today let people off the hook with the "No one is responsible" excuse? Barry Bloss just took Stan Rebert off the hook. This decision should have been left in the hands of a Grand Jury & then a jury of this man's peers. How could you forget your own child? That is unacceptable & a cop out to say it was an accident.

Jeff in New Freedom PA wrote:

This was no accident. Why does this world today let people off the hook with the "No one is responsible" excuse? Barry Bloss just took Stan Rebert off the hook. This decision should have been left in the hands of a Grand Jury & then a jury of this man's peers. How could you forget your own child? That is unacceptable & a cop out to say it was an accident.

Another leap made. Of course the parents are responsible; the question is are they criminally liable for not following up with what they thought was occurring but wasn't.

Why don't we throw the book at both parents and throw them in jail for life..lets take away the remaining 3 children and put them in the custody of children and youth. Then lets watch them all be separated and traumatized in a system that is already overloaded with burnt out case workers...then as they grow older with bitter hatred and become criminals we can then throw them in jail and post our witty comments about how it should have been handled differently because god knows we are all so perfect here..it was a mistake..an accident...not intentional...could it have been prevented...well you know we cannot prevent what we cannot predict..does that make us criminals....I think not

Voice of Reason wrote:

<quoted text>
Another leap made. Of course the parents are responsible; the question is are they criminally liable for not following up with what they thought was occurring but wasn't.

The father is responsible, he forgot all about his little girl. End of story. As a parent you are responsible for your children. If you do something to them that has a negative impact on them, you are responsible. This was not an accident or mistake, but pure negligence. He neglected his child by forgetting about her, & then she suffered a horrific death while sitting in that van boiling for 3 hours. That's not a mistake or an accident, but is the definition of negligence. It probably doesn't make much difference what Bloss said anyway, I'm sure Rebert would have let him off.

Perfect Parents Beware wrote:

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Uhh... the parents were in the house. Even if the baby did scream they probably wouldn't hear it.
People forget things, it just a fact of life. Apparently there are a lot of people around here that never forget anything though.
Haven't you ever seen the movie Home Alone... that may just be a movie, but forgetfulness really does happen and sometimes the result isn't a very nice ending.
People need to lose the "holier than thou" attitudes...
Guess what someday you might leave the stove on by accident and cause the house to catch on fire. Your baby might be sleeping somewhere in the house but you can't get through the fire to save it. Guess what, your NEGLIGENCE with stove just killed your baby. It was an accident and you will probably be wishing death upon yourself in your distraught anguish, but there will be no forgiveness from this crowd they will only look to throw more fire upon you!

How well spoken ! I can only express my sincere sympathy for this dear child and her left behind family. It was not a SHOCK to me tho. Unfortunately in todays life circle we are forced to work and juggle too much as parents. We are only human and all have made mistakes. My husband almost made a tragic one in our home. Quite a few years back my husband had our 4 children at Wal Mart here in York. Their ages were approx. 3 7 8 and 9. He was in a RUSH trying go get the grocery shopping done before going on his 12hr a day job he goes to 6 days a week. I was at work. Of course kids will be kids and were driving him completely crazy besides rushing so he decided it was just best to leave and finish later. A lot of confusion went on and to make a long story short my husband left our 7 year old at the Wal Mart store. A few minutes after driving off (thank god) my three yr. old daughter said where is "my brother" and he returned very prompt to find our son standing outside looking wearily for his family. My husband never felt so horrible in his life. Needless to say he called off of work that day and i left work early. We both took an evening just to enjoy our FAMILY. Work nor anything should come before your family. If anything good could come out of this ... which i don't see how it could. Just maybe someone reading this article and comments page will think the next time and check all children because NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT !!!! God Bless

Jeff in New Freedom PA wrote:

<quoted text>
The father is responsible, he forgot all about his little girl. End of story. As a parent you are responsible for your children. If you do something to them that has a negative impact on them, you are responsible. This was not an accident or mistake, but pure negligence. He neglected his child by forgetting about her, & then she suffered a horrific death while sitting in that van boiling for 3 hours. That's not a mistake or an accident, but is the definition of negligence. It probably doesn't make much difference what Bloss said anyway, I'm sure Rebert would have let him off.

I agree with all that and the father will have to live the rest of his life with that knowledge. I'm saying that no charges should be brought because he did not willfully and with malice leave his beloved daughter in the car. In other words, there was no criminal intent.

Hey wrote:

<quoted text>How well spoken ! I can only express my sincere sympathy for this dear child and her left behind family. It was not a SHOCK to me tho. Unfortunately in todays life circle we are forced to work and juggle too much as parents. We are only human and all have made mistakes. My husband almost made a tragic one in our home. Quite a few years back my husband had our 4 children at Wal Mart here in York. Their ages were approx. 3 7 8 and 9. He was in a RUSH trying go get the grocery shopping done before going on his 12hr a day job he goes to 6 days a week. I was at work. Of course kids will be kids and were driving him completely crazy besides rushing so he decided it was just best to leave and finish later. A lot of confusion went on and to make a long story short my husband left our 7 year old at the Wal Mart store. A few minutes after driving off (thank god) my three yr. old daughter said where is "my brother" and he returned very prompt to find our son standing outside looking wearily for his family. My husband never felt so horrible in his life. Needless to say he called off of work that day and i left work early. We both took an evening just to enjoy our FAMILY. Work nor anything should come before your family. If anything good could come out of this ... which i don't see how it could. Just maybe someone reading this article and comments page will think the next time and check all children because NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT !!!! God Bless

I think you raise an interesting point. At some time or another, a lot of will forget a kid or two, but remember within minutes afterward. In this case, 3 hours went by and the father never remembered. This is hard to fathem.

I feel bad for the parents. and thing do happen and it was just God's will to take the baby. IT was just the baby time. Be nice with your post because the family members are already in a lot of pain.

If you cannot think of anything nice to say then please keep your comments to yourself thanks. they do not need anyone to put them down at this time. the family is already dealing with this situation the best that they know how.

The County of York needs a new coroner. The parents should be charged for gross negligence and the other children should be placed with other care givers until someone can check the parents out. But if this would have been a black family would you bleeding hearts be so quick to forgive the act of killing a baby? Or is it just because this is a white family?
As a society we are more concerned with the welfare of a pet in a hot vehicle then we are with the safety of a small child. Both species are dependant on the caregiver to take care of them. I do not have children but I know how stressed I am at times with just pets I can't believe what it must be like with 4 small children but that does not mean leaving a small child in a hot vehicle is excusable.
My heart goes out to the child and what she must have gone thru. If this is a near perfect family we are all in trouble. It is time that we all start some serious soul searching and decide what is most important to us.

Juror On The Case wrote:

<quoted text>
It's a HUGE mistake that NEVER SHOULD'VE HAPPEN...as I forstated, this wasn't a loaf of bread or a pint of ice cream left in a car, it was a BABY...How the heck do you get the packages out of a car, but forget the BABY??? REGARDLESS of WHO'S at fault, their guilt of losing a child just doesn't suffice for me as "justice"...

Help me out here because I hear this a lot. Why are you owed justice in this event? How were you harmed?

Somebody help me out here. I see a many posts alleging racism in the York County Coroner's and DA's offices yet not one cite to lend any credibility to their posts. Such evidence absent, one might conclude there are individuals here, posting with the intent on fomenting racial tension from a situation where there simply is none. Instead of institutional racism, I do believe this is instigational racism.

Take your misplaced and wholly inappropriate rants to another thread.

My heartfelt sympathies to all who have felt the tragic loss of the Starr child.

BABYBUM1948 wrote:

A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL
BORN PREMATURE
NURSED TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS BY TWO WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT LOVE HER DEEPLEY MORE THAN WORDS CAN EXPRESS..........
SHE GREW AND BECAME A JOY TO BE AROUND
MOM LOVED AND CHERISHED HER SHE CARRIED HER FOR MONTHS UNDER HER HEART
HER DAD WAS OVERJOYED WITH HAVING ANOTHER DAUGHTER
HER BROTHERS AND SISTERS LOVED HER
HER GRANDPARENTS LOVED HER
THE AUNTS, UNCLES, NEPHEWS, AND NEICES LOVED HER
COUSINS
CHURCH FOLK
WHAT A JOY THAT SHE BROUGHT TO EVERYONE
NOW SHE IS IN THE ARMS OF JESUS..........
MY OH MY WHAT HEARTACHE FOR THE FAMILY OF THIS LITTLE ONE..........CAN YOU IMAGINE A DAY WITHOUT SUNSHINE, COMPLETE DARKNESS,THIS IS WHAT THE PARENTS ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW..........PUT YOURSELVES IN THEIR SHOES FOR ONCE
LET THE SIBLINGS NOT EVER READ THIS RUBBISH ON HERE ..........

Bless you

Juror On The Case wrote:

<quoted text>
7blessings...I understand you fully as I read your post..No disrespect to you or your thoughts.. It's a posibility that WE as humans are guilty of 1 or a few of what you wrote above...but THAT'S NOT the issue at hand. I've NEVER left my kids in a car alone for a moment... It's PROFANE to compare a kid left alone in the car "for a moment" to a baby "trapped"...(I say trapped instead of strapped b/c she couldn't release herself from the harness even if she tried) in a car seat for 3 HOURS ALONE in a HOT car with the windows rolled up. Yes, I've walked to my mailbox while my child was taking a nap but it didn't take me 3 hours to do so & KNOW that I check on him upon my return into the house. Sure we have all had miscommunications with our spouses as well as with others, but when it comes to MY children, my motherly instinct will have me check to be rest assured that ALL things are in order...You don't have to drive 5 mph over the speed limit, or zoom up to beat the red light to be in a car accident with your child in the vehicle....It can be SOMEONE elses negligence. We can go on and on with the examples & the would've, should've could've for this or any tradegy...but this will not bring that baby back..Prayer is ALL we can do at this point, but someone should be charged. This happens time and time again..year after year..Children are a PRECIOUS GIFT from GOD & people should be held accountable for their actions...

Juror on the case: I beg to differ when you say it is ‘profane to compare a kid left alone in the car for a moment to a baby trapped….in a car seat for 3 hours…’.

In my honest opinion, a person needs to step back and look at this from ALL angles. Think about this. If you stop at an ATM and leave your child in the car for a ‘brief’ moment to get $$$ and while you were at the ATM your car was stolen. The carjacker killed your baby. Would the parent be called negligent? Probably - because a tragedy happened? Why is negligence brought up ONLY when a tragedy happens…why isn’t it considered negligent behavior – period?

The same with leaving your child in the house and taking a few minutes to walk to the mailbox. Do you know in that few minutes that someone could take your child from their bed? It has happened that children are taken from their own house, in broad daylight, with their mother in another room. Would the parent then be called negligence because a tragedy happened? Probably. Why wasn’t it negligent behavior even if nothing happened?

Negligence should not be based on whether something bad happens. It should be based on intent. Was it their INTENTION to harm their child? NO!! Should they be punished by our judicial system? NO!!

As far as being held accountable for their actions….I am sure that they are holding themselves accountable more than any court ever could!

If we charge these parents for negligence then I believe you, me and every other parent that has done any number of those examples I mentioned in my original post should be charged with negligence!!!

You are right that examples, etc won’t bring the baby back but neither will bashing the parents instead of praying for them. I agree that children are a precious gift from God.

the simple fact is that the baby could not take care of herself and that is why the parents should be held responsible. and 3 hours. come on! i feel terrible for the parents, but it is their fault their baby died. that poor, poor baby. my mind will not even allow me to think about the torture the baby went through.