20-year-old David Japez McCorry Whatley has been charged with murder after leaving his 8-month-old daughter in a hot car while he was arrested on unrelated charges.
According to police, Whatley did not notify any of the officers that he had a child in his car that needed to be taken care of during his arrest.
At the time, Whatley had driven to Snellville Police Department headquarters to retrieve his confiscated handgun.
However, prior to releasing the weapon, police discovered a warrant for Whatley’s arrest while completing a background check and took him into custody.
Police revealed that body camera and dashcam video recorded Whatley for over 40 minutes, from the time he arrived at the police department up until being turned over to the county jail.
“He made no statements as to the fact that his daughter was left in the car two buildings away from the Snellville Police Department,” Manley said.
And by the time the child’s grandmother made it to the hot car, it was too late.
The baby, Nova Grace Whatley-Trejo, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
A local news station spoke with the baby’s mother about her daughter’s passing.
The mother explained “She laughed and smiled since she was a month old. She talked to you in her baby language and answered you with noises when you said her name. I loved her more than I could ever imagine, and my heart is breaking that she is gone so soon.”
The press conference on this incident can be seen here: 11Alive/Youtube
