Father admits to murdering son by intentionally leaving him in a hot car for hours
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (Feb. 7, 2023) – Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court jurors won’t be deciding whether the New Philadelphia man accused of leaving his son to die in a hot car is guilty of murder.
20-year-old Landon Parrott admitted to that crime and endangering children during a pre-trial hearing earlier this afternoon.
The victim was Parrott’s 14-month-old son Kyler. He reportedly rushed the child to Cleveland Clinic Union after intentionally leaving him in a car parked in the driveway of the family’s Ashwood Lane home for around five hours on September 1st, a day when the outside air temperature reached 87 degrees. Judge Michael Ernest is having Parrott transported from the county jail back to the courthouse Thursday morning to impose the only punishment possible for the crimes – life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 15 years.
“There would not be a sentencing hearing in which you could persuade me to not impose that. That’s simply what the legislature told me is the penalty.”
Parrott made the admission as part of a negotiated plea agreement. Grand jurors had also indicted Parrott for involuntary manslaughter and a second endangering count that Ernest agreed to dismiss at the request of the prosecution.