A father from Connecticut was spared of being jailed after he was granted non-supervised probation on Thursday even if he pleaded guilty to criminally neglecting his 15-month-old son that lead to his death.
According to Reuters, the man identified as Kyle Seitz, 37, from Ridgefield left his son unattended in his car last July. Seitz initially pleaded not guilty but after four months of investigation, he was arrested. His son identified as Benjamin was left in the jeep of Seitz for an entire day and he died of hypothermia.
According to the publication, Seitz told police officials that he forgot his son was in his car but still, the State Medical Examiner's Office ruled Benjamin's death as a homicide.
According to ABC News, Seitz was supposed to take his son to the daycare center when the incident happened and the temperature that day hit over 80. Seitz used the car in one part of the day to go to a sandwich shop but did not realize that his son was in the car.
Superior Court Judge Kevin Rusco, who was handling the case, said in a statement to the publication that Seitz already endured a lot of suffering from being in the case and being arrested thus the ruling of him being on probation.
The probation's conditions include two years of being on conditional discharge meaning that he should not be arrested again or charged with any other case. Also, Seitz should be able to show-up for court-ordered counseling.
The lawyer of Seitz, John Gulash, said in a statement to the publication that Seitz will be able to be with his family now and grieve properly over his son's death without worrying about being in jail.
Seitz has two more children, both girls, and his family already moved to Colorado after the death of Benjamin. Seitz is to follow them and mourn in private.