Inset: Karen Denise Benyard (Polk County Jail via WTSP). Background: Avenue North Southwest in Winter Haven, Florida, where she left her toddler granddaughter in a hot car (Google Maps).
A 74-year-old Florida grandmother went to go take a nap and allegedly left her toddler granddaughter in the back seat of a hot car for more than 90 minutes, leading to the girl's death.
Karen Denise Benyard stands accused of aggravated manslaughter of a child.
The Winter Haven Police Department said in a press release that the incident occurred on March 31. A family member was babysitting the 17-month-old girl while her mother was at work.
Benyard drove the family member to work with the child in the back seat. The girl, who police have not identified, fell asleep on the ride.
Benyard dropped the family member off at work and drove to her home on Avenue North Southwest, where she parked her car just after 2 p.m. The grandma went inside to take a nap, leaving the girl behind in the car.
She woke up and went back to her car around 3:45 p.m. She found her granddaughter unresponsive in the car and called 911.
Paramedics rushed the girl to the hospital where she died.
Benyard was apparently "overwhelmed with grief" and spent several days in the hospital. Testing later concluded that Benyard was not under the influence of any alcohol or drugs when she left her granddaughter in the car, cops said. Benyard's cellphone data and Ring camera footage corroborated her timeline of events, according to police.
An autopsy concluded the girl died of hyperthermia due to environmental exposure. Temperatures that day were in the mid-80s.
Police noted that parents can be charged with manslaughter for leaving a child in a hot car, even if it is an accident or a memory lapse.
Officers arrested Benyard on Wednesday and booked her into the Polk County Jail. She has since bonded out. Her next court date is not listed.
"This is an absolutely heartbreaking case where there is no closure for the family," Winter Haven Police Chief Vance Monroe Jr. said in a statement. "Our entire department shares the heavy grief of this devastating tragedy."
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