Lansdowne man sentenced in grandson's death
The Lansdowne man who forgot to drop off his grandson at day care and left the infant in an SUV during searing, 90-degree heat was sentenced yesterday to 200 hours of community service in the child's death.
The Lansdowne man who forgot to drop off his grandson at day care and left the infant in an SUV during searing, 90-degree heat was sentenced yesterday to 200 hours of community service in the child's death.
Edward Kanterman, 59, pleaded no contest to the involuntary manslaughter of 14-month-old Nicholas McCorkle.
"He wanted to stop the process so his daughter and family wouldn't have to keep going through it," said his attorney, Eugene Bonner.
Bonner said Kanterman, who came to court without his family for a routine hearing, had acted against his advice and told the judge he wanted to plead.
"He just wanted it to end," Bonner said.
The toddler's mother, Rebecca Kanterman of Drexel Hill, said at the time of the death that she did not blame her father and that she did not want him prosecuted. She and Chris McCorkle, the child's father, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
In addition to community service, Kanterman was sentenced to three years' probation. He also could not be reached for comment.
Kanterman routinely had picked up Nicholas McCorkle from his daughter's house three times a week and dropped him off at Little Angels of Drexel Hill. Then, he headed to his job as an instructor at CHI Institute, a technical school in Broomall.
On June 10, Kanterman drove straight to work and left Nicholas strapped in a child safety seat in the back of his Ford Explorer.
Temperatures that day reached the mid-90s. By the time Kanterman returned to the car - five hours later - Nicholas was drenched in sweat, blue, and struggling to breathe.
The toddler was taken to Bryn Mawr Hospital and then transferred to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He died four days later after being removed from life support.
Kanterman "told the judge the family visits the grave often," Bonner said. "Any sentence you can impose on him, he is living every day."
