Italian Baby Dies After Being Left in Hot Car by Father
A distraught Italian father who left his baby in a hot car for five hours after forgetting to drop her off at daycare may face manslaughter charges after the 22-month old died early Sunday.
Elena was barely breathing when her father, Lucio Petrizzi, rushed her to hospital on Wednesday. The professor of veterinary medicine said he was convinced he had dropped her off at daycare on his way to work.
An initial charge of abandoning a minor may be changed to manslaughter, ANSA news agency reported, quoting Italian prosecutor Bruno Auriemma.
The toddler's grieving mother, Chiara Sciarrini, who is eight months pregnant, publicly stood by her husband, telling reporters that what happened to him "could have happened to anyone."
"I want to tell the entire world how much my companion loved his daughter. He is an exemplary father," she said, adding in tears: "Elena's first words were da da."
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
Several of Elena's organs were destined for sick babies in the north of Italy and the capital, Rome. The father of a baby who had just hours left to live rejoiced after being assigned the toddler's liver.
"I thank Elena's parents. Today, for us, a new hope is born," he was quoted by ANSA as saying.
Source: Agence France Presse
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