A South Carolina father, whose infant sons died from heat exposure when he forgot to drop them off at daycare and left them in his car, will not be charged.
Brycen and Brayden McDaniel, 20-month-olds twins, were found dead inside a car outside the Sunshine House Early Learning Academy location in Blythewood, SC, on Sept. 1.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said that the boys’ father will not be identified because no charges were filed.
Police say the father worked at a manufacturing plant in the area and had been under duress at his job prior to the accident.
“The father was under some intense pressure at work that really had his mind somewhere else that day,” Lott
said. “In his mind, he really believed he dropped the two boys off at daycare. There was no doubt in his mind that he’d done that.”After work, the father drove to the daycare to pick up the boys and was told they were not there. That’s when he found them lifeless in the backseat of the car, Lott added.
He tried to perform lifesaving measures on the twins, but it was too late, according to the sheriff.
“He didn’t mean to do it. God, he didn’t mean to do it. He’s got to live with that the rest of his life,” Lott said.
The heat index in the car was 120 degrees on Sept. 1, Richland County Coroner Nadia Rutherford said Tuesday, adding that “it didn’t take long” for this tragedy to occur.
The twins manner of death was ruled accidental, and their cause of death is listed as hyperthermia.
Lott recalled the father’s interview, which he said was “one of the [most] heart-wrenching interviews you ever had to see.”
“The pure emotion that came out was not something you could fake,” Lott said.