Statements of guilt after tragic heat death – Vorarlberger Nachrichten

Feldkirch August 2017: The 18-year-old mother and her 20-year-old friend surprise her grandmother in Styria and show her for the first time the grandson of 20 months.

On the way back, it's hot, both sleep little. After the night return trip, they park the car in front of the apartment in the Vorarlberg Oberland under a shady tree. The little one sleeps, but they want to let him fall asleep even deeper so that they can bring him to the apartment without waking him up. In the apartment, both sit on the bed, where the tragedy takes its course. They both fall asleep.

"Wandering" Sun

Both are so tired that they wake up at 9:30 pm because of a thunderstorm. During this time, the sun was "lost", the boy was exposed from noon to 5 pm in the sun. It was up to 31 degrees in the shade on that high summer day. Shocked, the young man, who loved the child as his own child, rushed to the car. He always tries to help, but it is too late. The toddler dies of overheating of the whole body. The two young people are horrified, today both of them and the biological father are in psychological treatment. All three will never forget the incident.

Caritas describes the young woman as extremely caring and reliable. "She takes all the doctor's appointments alone, supervises the child, takes good care of her and the baby is always in perfect condition," says a report well before the incident. "It is also important to work on this case," said prosecutor Philipp Höfle. The prosecution considers that it is almost likely that after a long drive you may fall asleep. Nevertheless, to leave a child in the car during the summer, she considers gross negligence. Judge Richard Gschwenter also sees the case and condemns both for homicide by gross negligence. The first defendant to four months of conditional imprisonment plus 1000 euros penalty, the young man to five months of imprisonment suspended and 3,600 euros unconditional fine

Call for others human beings

"If someone calls a harsher punishment, then I must say It is not the task of justice to balance a human life in money, but rather a just punishment ", Judge Richard Gschwenter addresses the audience, which sometimes begins to whisper during the trial. Judgments are not final.