Investigators probing the death of 17-month-old Jaedon Cudjoe are expected to submit a report to the Director of Public Prosecutions today to determine whether a 56-year-old relative will be charged with manslaughter. Meanwhile, Jaedon’s family is making funeral arrangements for tomorrow. However, plans are yet to be finalised. Up to late yesterday, homicide detectives were still questioning the Penal man who was detained by CID officers shortly after 4.30 pm. According to police: “Since this afternoon (yesterday), they were interviewing him and they took a statement from him. Most likely, tomorrow (today) they will go to the DPP with whatever they have so the DPP can make a decision whether to lay charges or release him. “Right now he is in custody and tomorrow they will take whatever documents they have to the DPP. If he has to be charged, it may be for manslaughter through negligence.”
A source told the T&T Guardian yesterday it should have been a glorious day for the man as he was expected to get a job promotion that day. Instead, he left his work dejected at the loss of the precious baby boy and in handcuffs as he was led away by officers. Reports said the relative, an employee at Petrotrin’s Clarke Road, Penal, picked up Jaedon around 7 am Tuesday after he was asked to drop off the child at a babysitter. Police suspect that during the trip, the child fell asleep and the man forgot to drop him off. Instead, he went straight to work, parked his car in the compound and took up duty. It was not until 4 pm when his shift ended that he returned to the car and found Jaedon unresponsive and motionless. The man began to scream upon discovering the child, causing co-workers and security officers to gather around.
An autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov on Wednesday determined that Jaedon died from hyperthermia, caused by the intense heat he withstood in the car. According to statistics by the Department of Climate and Earth Science at the San Francisco State University, 610 children have died from heat strokes in the US since 1998, after being forgotten in vehicles. The SFSU stated that 52 per cent were forgotten by their caretakers. Currently there are no laws specifically dealing with leaving children unattended in vehicles in T&T. However, several states in the US have implemented laws restricting drivers from leaving children unattended.