Charges: 4-year-old boy died in hot car while dad worked St. Paul event

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A four-year-old boy is dead and his father has been charged with manslaughter after he allegedly left the boy in his vehicle while he worked an event at CHS Field in St. Paul.

Family members identified the boy to FOX 9 as Riley Taylor.

According to the criminal complaint, 26-year-old Kristopher Taylor left his four-year-old son in his Dodge Journey, parked in an unshaded area, while he worked a BBQ event at the park.

Taylor initially told police he had his child with him in the park and only took him to the car after the kid claimed to be tired and wanted to take a nap. He later revised his story and said he couldn’t find anyone to watch his son, so he left him in the car from about 11:30 a.m. to around 5:15 p.m. while he worked, leaving the window down about a half inch.

When he returned to the car after the event he found the child unresponsive, put the child in the front seat, and drove him to the hospital.

“This is just a tragedy for everybody involved. It’s heartbreaking,” said Steve Linders with St. Paul Police. “This is a tragic reminder that kids, especially young kids, should never be left alone in a vehicle. There are so many things that could go wrong and this is the worst of them.”

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death to be hyperthermia.

Taylor told police he had done this once before and didn’t think it was that hot out. He made his first appearance in court Monday at 1:30 p.m.