If a kid gets left in a hot car (e.g. because the caretaker forgets), the kid can die. Serious criminal charges are sometimes brought against the caretaker (or caretakers, plural)...
- even if the car isn't locked and the child does not die
- even if the kid gets into the car himself
- even if the caretaker tries to save the baby with efforts to cool it down, after realizing the error
I went looking for examples of cases where no charges were filed and attempted to find distinguishing factors, which you can look into and confirm/disconfirm in an answer; what follows is just what I found. I found race (according to the linked article and attorney cited there), being an officer (according to the primary salient fact in the linked article) or otherwise working in the local criminal justice system, and being the first case in a county (according to what distinguishing fact can be found in the article) as potential determiners of whether or not charges are brought against a caretaker. That is not a very satisfying set of factors. So, I ask:
What are the factors used to determine whether or not the caretaker is charged in such a situation?
For this question, assume:
- the period was hours,
- the kid died,
- the caretaker admitted to what s/he did, and
- the caretaker claimed it's because s/he forgot.
If the whole United States is too broad, answer for whichever state(s) you can give the best answer for, or New York if you need a more specific pointer.