Charges in death of child left in car
Edward Kanterman is a "creature of habit" who often parked in the same place outside Delaware County's CHI Institute, where he taught electronics, a Marple Township detective testified yesterday.
Edward Kanterman is a "creature of habit" who often parked in the same place outside Delaware County's CHI Institute, where he taught electronics, a Marple Township detective testified yesterday.
And it was in that shadeless parking spot on the morning of June 10 that his 14-month-old grandson, Nicholas McCorkle, sat for more than five hours, strapped in a car seat, as the temperature in Kanterman's Ford Explorer rose to more than 110 degrees.
Nicholas died four days later of hyperthermia, or overheating of the body; Kanterman was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
"He couldn't believe what he did," Detective Barry Williams said yesterday at Kanterman's preliminary hearing.
Williams said Kanterman, 59, could not explain why he had left the child in his SUV during a day that reached 96 degrees - other than "he forgot."
Defense attorney Eugene Bonner attempted yesterday to have the case dismissed, arguing that the toddler's death didn't result from a "conscious act."
Bonner said Kanterman did not assess the risk to his grandson and decide to leave Nicholas in the car while he taught classes. Bonner said his client simply made the fatal mistake of forgetting to drop the child off at a Drexel Hill day-care center after picking him up at his daughter's house less than a half hour earlier.
"It has to be conscious; you have to know what you're doing," Bonner argued in asking Magisterial District Judge John Capuzzi to dismiss the charge.
Capuzzi disagreed, holding Kanterman for trial in a case that could set a precedent for how the Delaware County District Attorney's Office prosecutes similar child deaths. His arraignment is set for Sept. 11 in Media.
Edward Kanterman's daughter, Rebecca Kanterman, 21, said in court yesterday that she did not want her father to be charged. She sat directly behind him and wore a homemade T-shirt with her son's picture below the words "Little Angel."
Rebecca Kanterman was able to keep her composure on the stand, but broke down crying when Williams described how CHI staff had tried to help Nicolas, who was soaked in sweat and blue in color when he was pulled from the broiling truck.
"They tried everything they could," he said.
Deputy District Attorney Sheldon Kovach acknowledged that Nicholas' accidental death is a "tragedy," but he said it's also a crime.
"You have a duty of care that was violated by the caregiver," Kovach said. *
