Baby, Dog Die After Being Left in Car for Hours; Virginia Woman Arrested

A Virginia woman is accused of leaving an 11-month-old baby and a dog inside a car for several hours, where both died, Today reported.

Police arrested caregiver Kristen Danielle Graham, 40, on September 12 on one felony count of child neglect and one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office announced in a Facebook post.

The investigation is ongoing and the medical examiner’s office is working to determine the cause of death, according to the report. 

A sheriff’s office spokesperson told the outlet that the child was a baby girl named Myrical.

York County Sheriff Ron Montgomery said in a press conference that police responded to a hospital in Newport News, Virginia, after an older man went to the emergency room and reported a deceased child in his car outside. Hospital staff subsequently went outside and found a black trash bag in the car with the baby inside, the report states. 

“That child has been identified as Myrical Wicker, date of birth October the 19th, 2022,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery said Graham had been caring for the child for two days. The child’s mother, who was not identified, is 17 years old, and Graham regularly looked after the child, sometimes for extended periods of time.

The sheriff said that around 1:00 a.m. on September 12, a friend of Graham’s called her and asked her to bring her cigarettes.

“So the 11-month-old child was put in the back of the vehicle along with a small dog and transported to Newport News where they went to a 7-Eleven, purchased cigarettes and a bottle of apple juice,” he said. 

Graham then allegedly drove to the friend’s location and stayed there for “some period of time.” She then allegedly returned to her York County residence around 8:00 a.m. with the child.

“Once she got home, she rolled the windows up on the car, turned the car off, left the dog and the child in the vehicle,” he said.

Montgomery said Graham was awakened by a phone call between 2:00 and 2:30 p.m. and went outside “to then check on the child, who was at that point deceased.”

“Montgomery said the child was brought inside the house and the person who brought the child to the hospital first placed her in the black plastic bag,” according to the report. “Graham was arrested and taken to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail, where she was being held as of September 13. TODAY.com reached out to Graham’s attorney, but did not hear back.”

The sheriff also alleged that Graham gave “conflicting statements” to police about the incident.

“She would initially have us believe that she was in the vehicle along with the child and the dog for that duration of time,” he said. “Our evidence that we have collected doesn’t support that information. We believe that she left them, went in the house, went to sleep and came back out 6 hours later.”

Graham also allegedly told police that the child was already sleeping in the car and “she made a decision just to leave the child in the vehicle.”

Montgomery noted the heat index was “at least 100 degrees” when the child and dog were in the car between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. He added that the charges could be changed to homicide depending on the results of the child’s autopsy.

“These are not typical situations that we deal with in York County,” he said. “When you do come across the death of a child, it affects everyone.”

“We have children ourselves,” he continued. “I can tell you that we all go home and hug our kids and our grandkids a little tighter after something like this happens.”