Avery and Ariel Suter twin sisters’ hot car deaths are described as accidental as Norman Police in Oklahoma say they will not press charges as mother and father address speculation.
Oklahoma police in Norman have recommended against charges following the discovery of two twin girls who were found deceased in the backseat of their father’s car over the weekend.
Avery and Ariel Suter were found unresponsive in the backseat of the vehicle around 3pm on Thursday in the neighborhood of Norman where temperatures reached 90F outside.
Addressing ‘rumours’ that the childrens’ parents was responsible for the twins’ deaths, the infants’ father, Marshall Suter told press he was at work and was contacted by an officer following the twin girls’ deaths.
‘I didn’t know anything until 11:15pm on the 5th September and I was told in person by the police that they passed away. My heart’s been a wreck ever since,’ the father told the dailymail.
It was an unnamed family member who had started driving the white car, before turning around and realizing that the twins had passed away in the backseat.
That family member was meant to drop the children off at daycare but forgot. By the time the pair were found, it was too late.
Officers pronounced the children dead at the scene after being called for a wellness check. Police are still investigating how or why they were left in the hot car.
News 4 was told that the parents had left the two girls in the care of a trusted family member that day.
On Sunday night, Suter paid tribute to the twins who were born in 2022, describing them as the ‘brightest and best twins the world could’ve had’ with a love that was ‘the most pure’ he had ever experienced.
‘They were loved by everyone in the family. They did everything together,’ Suter said.
‘From the hugs to the kisses to the laughs. Their love was the most pure I had ever felt. And I won’t be able to feel that again. Mom and dad love their baby girls.
‘No day will ever be the same. Our hearts are shattered. Losing a child might have be the hardest thing ever, and I lost two. I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again,’ Suter said.
Police are currently not recommending charges for the deaths and say the family is cooperating with inquiries.
‘We would have had to determine that there was probable cause indicating a willful negligence directly linking them to the death of those children, and at this time, the investigation is just showing us that it’s far more an accident,’ Sarah Schettler with the Normal Police Department told KOCO 5.
Police believe the children had been in the car all day – but the timeline of events is still vague.
‘This is truly tragic and has been very hard on the family involved especially where hateful comments are concerned. I hope this will at least show people that it wasn’t intentional and truly an accident. This family would just like some peace in this difficult and heavy time,’ a family member told KFOR.
Katherine Dawson, Ariel and Avery’s mother, also took to social media early Monday morning about their tragic deaths.
‘Thank you to my tribe for standing up during such a hard time in our lives. You all staying strong for our sweet girls even with all of the unnecessary misinformation being spewed. You are seen, you are loved, and God will grant his grace to us all,’ the mother posted.
Andrew Kabara, a neighbor in the area, said cars often park on the street because a lot of parents drop off students at McKinley Elementary School or the University of Oklahoma – a couple blocks from where the toddlers were found.
‘We pay attention to most of them,’ Kabara told The Oklahoman.
‘This is a close-knit neighborhood, and we want to know who’s coming through here and all of that, but never thought something like this,’ he added.
The medical examiner is expected to announce the twins’ cause of death in the coming weeks.
