Mother charged in Gwinnett County hot car death was on autopilot, lawyer says
Gwinnett County hot car death leads to court plea
An attorney requested murder charges be dropped for a mother who left her 1-year-old child in a hot car at a Gwinnett County hospital.
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - A defense attorney demands second-degree murder charges be dropped against a 29-year-old mother who mistakenly left her 1-year-old son in a hot car outside a Gwinnett County hospital.
Defense seeks dismissal in hospital incident
What we know:
Defense attorney Tom Ford is asking prosecutors to drop second-degree murder charges against 29-year-old Deja Coleman. Coleman is accused in the hot car death of her 1-year-old son, Daniel, outside Northside Hospital in Gwinnett County.
Coleman believed she dropped all three of her children off at day care before driving to work. Ford explained that his client was sleep-deprived and overwhelmed with responsibilities when the fatal error occurred.
Scientific brain function and victim history
What they're saying:
Ford contends that Coleman was living in an abuse shelter and should be recognized as a victim of domestic violence rather than prosecuted.
"We've labeled a grieving mother a murderer," Ford said. "I would submit there's no charges at all, because to be tired is not a crime".
The attorney pointed to neurological factors, explaining that extreme fatigue forces the brain to rely on autopilot. "None of us understand what autopilot, the basic angle, that's what takes over," Ford said. "It's your autopilot portion of your brain. The prefrontal cortex makes your decisions in the future. It helps you make decisions, we don't know. But that's what the scientists will tell us."
Unanswered questions in Gwinnett case
What we don't know:
Prosecutors have not publicly stated whether they will reconsider the second-degree murder charges against Coleman.
It remains unclear if federal lawmakers have responded to requests for new vehicle safety regulations.
Push for federal safety legislation
The backstory:
Ford criticized Georgia's hot car death laws, which were tightened following the high-profile Ross Harris case involving the death of his son Cooper.
He argued that current state laws disproportionately affect working-class mothers working hourly jobs. Ford announced plans to contact federal lawmakers to mandate vehicle sensors that cost a couple of hundred dollars, noting that 35 to 40 children across the country die in hot cars each year.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from FOX 5 reporter Aungelique Proctor, who interviewed defense attorney Tom Ford regarding the Gwinnett County hot car death case.