Toddler likely died within 2 hours in hot van, expert testifies

Two-year-old Daniel Slutsky likely died within one to two hours of being forgotten inside his day-care operator's minivan on a stifling July day, an expert told a Bucks County courtroom today.

The brown-eyed boy, described by his mother as "beautiful" and "a blessing," succumbed to temperatures of 130 degrees when his body could no longer repel the effects of the heat.

In the end his heart and brain simply shut down, said Ian Hood, the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy on the boy's body.

"Daniel did get out of his car seat, but unfortunately, he didn't have the intelligence to stand on the horn," Hood testified in response to questions from Bucks County Deputy District Attorney Robin Twombly.

The boy died in a storage area just inside the Toyota Sienna's rear flap, Hood and a police investigator testified.

The picture drawn by the prosecution of the toddler fighting for life in the van while business went on as usual inside the day-care center just across the street in Penndel reduced most in the courtroom to tears.

The testimony came as the prosecution presented its case against day-care operator Rimma Shvartsman, 47, of Northampton Township before Judge John J. Rufe.

Shvartsman is accused of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. Maximum penalty for the manslaughter charge is five to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Daniel's mother, Lyudmila, 36, a nurse, told how she and husband, Gil, 47, a computer programmer, were "thrilled" when Daniel was born in November 2006. "We were glowing," she testified.

But 2-year-olds need constant supervision; since both parents worked full time, they agreed when Shvartsman, a neighbor, offered to enroll Daniel in her Fairy Tales day-care center, and even to drive him there when she was available, the mother testified.

Gil Slutsky testified that on the morning of July 1, 2009, he strapped Daniel into his seat in Shvartsman's van.

"I wanted to kiss him goodbye, but I saw that she was rushing. I thought, 'I'm not going to hold her up. I'm going to kiss him later when he comes back,' " he testified.

Then he described being called by Shvartsman, very upset because "I locked him in the van." Thinking the van needed to be opened, Slutsky rushed out with his tools, only to be redirected to St. Mary Medical Center, where the boy was being taken by ambulance.

Slutsky testified that he called Shvartsman on her cell and asked, "What's happening?" He testified she said: "I forgot him in the car."

"How long?" Slutsky asked.

"From the morning," he testified she replied.

At the hospital, Slutsky said, he shouted for the doctors to defibrillate the boy to restart his heart, but it was too late.

"He was brain-dead already for hours," Slutsky sobbed.

Defense attorney Michael M. Mustokoff has maintained his client forgot the toddler because she was sleepless and distracted from hearing some grim medical news.

The defense is expected to open its case tomorrow.