Police Interview With Brenda Slaby Released
Southwest
Sep 06 2007 7:36PM
Brenda Nesselroad Slaby said she didn't deserve to live as she tried to explain to police how she forgot her little girl was asleep in the back seat of her car. As she speaks, Slaby weeps, and wonders out loud how she can go on with life. Two year-old Cecilia was discovered in the back seat of her mother's car eight hours after Brenda Slaby got to work at Glen Este Middle School.
In this developing story,ONN affiliate Local 12's Deborah Dixon has her interview at the Union Township Police Station.
Brenda Slaby frequently put her head down and wept as she retraced the morning she forgot about two year old Cecilia. It was the day before the vice-principal's first day of school. There was an important meeting. Cecilia was in the back seat.
"Brenda Slaby told police it was too early to drop cecelia off at the sitter's so she came here to the bakery to get doughnuts for the staff. When she changed her routine, Slaby forgot Cecilia was in the back seat."
"Was she asleep? She was always alseep, always sound asleep."
Cecilia slept through the doughnut delivery to school. It took two trips. Then Brenda Slaby parked the car with Cecilia inside. 8 hours later, someone pulled into the parking and saw her. Slaby rushed to the car and carried her blistered daughter into the air conditioned school. It was too late.
"No one thinks you did this on purpose. No-one is doubting that Brenda, good mother's don't do that."
Brenda Slaby tried to calculate living with what she did.
"I don't know how you go on having done this to one of your kids, and ever forgive yourself."
In police interviews, Brenda was described as stressed out about the first day of school. A teacher at her other daughter's school said the Slaby's were always in a hurry.
"I was trying to be everything to everybody. I failed my daughter."
Slaby was not charged because prosecutors consider the death an accident. In Ohio, accidents are not crimes, and the child endangering statute doesn't include negligence. If it did, she'd probably be charged.
Daniel Breyer, Assistant Clermont County Prosecutor: "You could clearly make a case her behavior was substantial lapse of due care, negligence, if the state law involved negligence would have gone to a grand jury."
Breyer said the office followed the law. People who don't like the law should work to get it changed. The police interviews released yesterday said there were four incidents at the other daughter's school when Cecilia was left in the car. The recorded interview with the director indicates it was the father who twice left Cecilia in the car when he dropped her sister off, and Brenda Slaby did the same twice when she picked the child up.
