Former Police Officer Had Sex While Daughter Died In Hot Car

A former police officer from Long Beach, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Monday after her daughter was found dead in a hot car. She also admitted to having sex with her supervisor while her three-year-old daughter was dying in the hot patrol car.

Cassie Barker pleaded guilty to manslaughter in a plea bargain after she was indicted on a second-degree murder charge. Barker, who was earlier released on bail, was rearrested Monday. Barker admitted to having sex with her supervisor while her three-year-old daughter was dying in a hot patrol car.

Barker left her daughter Cheyenne Hyer strapped in her car seat for four hours when she went to her former supervisor’s house on Sept. 30, 2016. By the time Barker went back, the girl was unresponsive and her body temperature was 107 degrees when she was taken to a nearby hospital, according to authorities. On the fateful day, the heat index had reached over 100 degrees, according to local news channel Sun Herald. Barker claimed the air conditioner in the car was running, however, it wasn’t blowing cold air.

Following the death of the child, Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell fired Barker and her supervisor Clark Ladner. Ladner informed officials that he wasn’t aware of the child being inside the car and no criminal charges were made against him.

Initially, Barker claimed she was talking to Ladner at his house and fell asleep there since she had been working two jobs at the time. Ladner told police he took some sleep aid and he too fell asleep. Barker later admitted to having sex with her supervisor and falling asleep after, while the girl was in the car.

This wasn’t the first time Barker left the child unattended in the car. Barker left the child inside the car while she went to a store in Gulfport in April 2015. A passerby saw the girl and informed the police and she was taken into temporary custody by child welfare workers. At the time, Barker was suspended without pay for a week. Cheyenne’s father, Ryan Hyer, said he wasn’t aware of the incident and was surprised when he heard of it.

“As a parent, you are supposed to protect your child, and Cheyenne is gone because her mother didn’t protect her, not once but twice,” he said at the time.

Ryan sued the Long Beach Police Department and the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services for the wrongful death of Cheyenne. He said the child welfare agency should have taken stronger action after the 2015 incident.

“Every time I close my eyes, I picture her suffering and then I picture her laying in this coffin. I still see her smiling and laughing and in my head and I would assumed that smile and laughter turned to pain and suffering in that instance,” he said.

When the child was declared dead, Barker was also hospitalized for what the officials and hospital staff described as shock. She took a psychological exam later which showed the woman suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder related to some childhood trauma and the death of her daughter. However, she was found competent to stand her trial.

During the trial, prosecutors recommended a 20-year sentence for Barker in prison, however, Harrison County Circuit Judge Larry Bourgeois said he needed more time to consider the case and would determine the sentence on April 1.

He said, “I don’t know what I could ever do to you that could be worse that what you’ve already experienced… You will forever be entombed in the prison of your own mind.”