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4 weeks ago
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A 22-year-old man with special needs tragically died after being left unattended in a hot car for several hours by his caretaker.
The caretaker, identified as Rogers Lee Inge Jr., had allegedly snuck off to work a second job in North Carolina while the victim, Dontarious Batts, was still in the vehicle.
According to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, Inge, an employee of Universal Health Care, was supposed to be supervising Batts. Instead, he brought Batts, who was autistic and nonverbal, along to his other job as a janitor at Cleveland High School in Clayton.
Inge arrived at the school for his 8:00 a.m. shift and left Batts inside his car with the windows rolled up and the engine off. Temperatures in the area reached 81 degrees on the day of the incident.
When Inge checked on Batts two hours later, he claimed the 22-year-old was fine.
22-year-old Dontarious Batts, who was autistic and nonverbal, tragically died after being left unattended in a hot car for several hours by his caretaker
The caretaker, identified as Rogers Lee Inge Jr., had allegedly snuck off to work a second job in North Carolina while the victim, Dontarious Batts, was still in the vehicle.
Inge left Batts in the car for more than six hours before, returning to find him unresponsive at 4:17 pm, reported local NBC affiliate WRAL.
The caretaker then drove to a nearby fire station in Clinton with Batts' body still in the car and called 911.
WRAL obtained the 911 call between Inge and the dispatcher.
'It's my fault,' Inge told the 911 operator through tears. 'I didn’t think it was that hot today. I didn’t check on him. I forgot. I was working.'
Authorities met Inge at the fire station and pronounced Batts dead. Inge was taken into custody and charged with involuntary manslaughter.
An autopsy will be conducted, but investigators believe Batts died due to the extreme heat inside the car.
According to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, Inge, an employee of Universal Health Care, was supposed to be supervising Batts. Instead, he brought Batts, who was autistic and nonverbal, along to his other job as a janitor at Cleveland High School in Clayton.
Inge arrived at the school for his 8:00 a.m. shift and left Batts inside his car with the windows rolled up and the engine off. Temperatures in the area reached 81 degrees on the day of the incident.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that temperatures inside a car can rise rapidly on hot days. In just 20 minutes, temperatures can reach 109 degrees Fahrenheit, and within an hour, they can exceed 123 degrees.
Inge was taken to the Johnston County jail and held under a $35,000 bond.
He was also fired from his job at Johnston County Public Schools, WRAL reported.
Batts' family started a GoFundMe to cover his funeral expenses.
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