Deja and Justin Rollins, Jacksonville, Arkansas couple charged with murder in hot car death of toddler after leaving 4 kids unattended in hot car. Parents also face other charges including, child neglect and child endangerment as questions are asked whether parents were on child protections services radar.
An Arkansas couple has been charged with murder along with child neglect and other charges after they left four children in a hot car – leading to the death of their 2-year-old toddler son.
Deja, 27, and Justin Rollins, 29, of Jacksonville, are alleged to have left their children unattended in the car outside of Arkansas Children’s Hospital on Sunday, KARK reported.
Officers said they responded to the scene after receiving reports that another of the children, an unidentified three-year-old, had been brought in for urgent treatment.
Ongoing child neglect and endangerment?
During the course of their investigation, the Jacksonville police learned that the couple had four other children – ages 2, 4, 7 and 10 – only for the couple to allegedly refuse to tell police the whereabouts of the other four kids.
Police later found the children inside a car in the hospital’s parking lot, and alerted hospital security – who were able to get the car open, according to Arkansas Online.
All of those children suffered heat exhaustion, and were treated at the hospital, according to KATV.
Nevertheless, the following day, 2-year-old Jay’Dien Rollins was pronounced dead according to a government release.
Over the course of an ensuing investigation, police also found a malnourished dog inside their Jacksonville home, and turned it over to Jacksonville Animal Services.
The parents each now face one count of capital murder, five counts of first-degree domestic battery, five counts of neglect of a vulnerable person, five counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, one count of animal cruelty and one count of obstructing government operations according to a police release.
They pleaded not guilty to the murder charges at a hearing on Tuesday – just one day after they entered a not guilty plea on the earlier charges.
Both Deja and Justin are now being held at the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility without bond.
It remained unclear if the parents were previously being investigated by child protection services.
