3rd girl dies after exposure to heat

4-year-old, twin sisters had been playing in mom's car

Sunday, November 12, 2006

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

FOREST CITY -- Three Rutherford County girls died after playing in their mother's car outside their apartment Friday, when local temperatures soared to an unseasonable 83 degrees, authorities said Saturday.

Autopsies showed that 2-year-old twins Asia and Bryasia Sheppard died of heat-related injuries, said Lt. Billy Scoggins of the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office.


Their 4-year-old sister, An'iya Miller, died at Mission Hospital in Asheville early Saturday. Doctors said her death also appeared to be heat related; an autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Friends and family Saturday comforted the girls' 26-year-old mother, Latrice Miller, and said she's distraught and hysterical over the deaths.

"It's not something a mother recovers from," said Miller's second cousin, Kevin Moore.

The girls' father, 29-year-old Sterling Sheppard, told the Observer he spoke to Miller Saturday afternoon, and she told him she had overslept while the girls played outside. He doesn't blame Miller for the girls' death, he said.

Authorities said they aren't sure how or when the girls got into the car, a four-door Honda Accord parked in direct sunlight in front of the family's apartment near Forest City, about 70 miles west of Charlotte.

April Harbison, Miller's neighbor, said she saw the girls playing in the car and beeping the horn shortly after 10:30 Friday morning. Three hours later, Harbison said, she heard Miller screaming.

Miller called 911 at about 1:30 p.m. after finding the twins and An'iya unconscious in the passenger section of the car, Scoggins said, and brought the girls into her apartment.

She tried to revive them, he said, but the twins died before authorities arrived. An'iya was taken to Mission Hospital, where she died shortly after midnight.

This year, 26 other children nationwide have died from heat-related deaths after being left unattended in cars, according to Jan Null, a San Francisco State University professor who researches such deaths.

If Friday's high reached 83 degrees, the temperature inside the car would have been about 105 degrees after 30 minutes and almost 125 degrees after an hour, Null said.

Heat exhaustion can occur at 90 degrees or above, and heat stroke at 105 degrees. Children with heat stroke are unable to sweat, and their body temperatures rise to dangerous levels that can lead to brain, liver and kidney damage or death.

Sheppard, the children's father, said he and Miller have been dating for six years, and said he believes she is a good mother.

"It was an honest mistake that anyone could have made," he said from the Caldwell County jail, where he's a federal inmate. He said he's being held on charges of concealing a weapon.

"I knew I needed to be out there to help. It's hard watching out for three little kids yourself."

Miller was unavailable for comment Saturday.

Angela Hutchins went to a Rutherford County high school with Miller and now works at the convenience store across the street from Miller's apartment. An'iya and Miller visited the store often, Hutchins said, and she remembers the 4-year-old's excitement to be shopping with her mom.

"She loved getting potato wedges," Hutchins said. "You could tell she loved her mama."

Patricia Moore, Miller's friend and Sheppard's cousin, said the twins loved playing on Playskool bikes they got for their birthdays in February. Moore is staying with Miller and said she'll miss the girls' giggles and exuberance.

"Every day, when I came home from work, they'd meet me at the door wanting to play," she said.

Since 1998, 10 other children have died of heat-related injuries in North Carolina after being left in vehicles, Null said.

In 2001, 6-month-old Michael Heinen Jr. died after his father left him for nine hours in a Ford Explorer. His father, Michael Heinen of Mooresville, told police he thought he'd taken the baby to the baby sitter's house before work. He was not charged.

And in a high-profile 1999 S.C. case, a woman's 10-day-old baby died in a sweltering car while she played video poker. She was given five years' probation.

Scoggins said the Sheriff's Office is continuing its investigation. The results, he said, will be given to the district attorney, who will decide whether Miller will face criminal charges.

The family was not sure when funeral services will be held, but Sheppard said he's hoping authorities will allow him to attend. The girls, he said, "were my joy and my world."

"I always said if I had another daughter, I'd name her Asia for the mother of all civilization," he said. "But I didn't just have one. I had twins."


Keeping Kids Safe

To protect children from the danger of unattended cars:

Never leave your child in an unattended car, even with the windows down.

Keep cars locked at all times, even in the garage or driveway.

Teach your children not to play in or around cars.

Always make sure all child passengers have left the car before locking it.

Keep car keys out of children's reach and sight.

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Source: SAFE Kids USA



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