PRESS RELEASE
July 10, 2014
FCSO Arrests Parents of Child Left in Car
SUBJECT:Joe Allen Kennedy, age 57, of 659 Malclay Lane, Florence, SC 29505 was arrested by Investigators with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office on July 9, 2014 and charged with Unlawful Conduct Toward a Child (S.C. Code Section 63-05-070). See FCSO Booking Website for additional information.
SUBJECT: Ruthene Hawkins Kennedy, age 44, of 659 Malclay Lane, Florence, SC 29505 was arrested by Investigators with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office on July 9, 2014 and charged with Unlawful Conduct Toward a Child (S.C. Code Section 63-05-070). See FCSO Booking Website for additional details.
NARRATIVE: On July 9, 2014, Investigators with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office arrested the parents of a 13 month old child who died after being left in a vehicle and charged them with Unlawful Conduct Toward a Child. According to Investigators, on or about May 25, 2014 the suspects are alleged to have left the child in a car seat in a vehicle on Malclay Lane with the windows closed for approximately one and a half hours (90 minutes). When the parents discovered the child it was sweating profusely and appeared to be in seizure. The subjects then drove the child to an area hospital where the child was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and place on a ventilator. The child’s condition continued to deteriorate while at the hospital and died on May 28, 2014.
Under South Carolina law, Unlawful Conduct Toward a Child is a felony punishable by a fine in the discretion of the court or imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both. Both subjects were released from the Florence County Detention Center on July 9, 2014 on $2500.00 personal recognizance bonds.
END
Major Michael M. Nunn
General Counsel/P.I.O.
