Bajan man in hospital after forgotten baby dies in car

(Barbados Nation) Dave Searles remained hospitalised yesterday but in stable condition.

The father of three collapsed on Wednesday after discovering his five-month-old baby boy dead after he forgot the child in the back seat of his car.

The baby, Ethan Searles, died from what police suspect was suffocation. He was still strapped in his baby seat.

Yesterday police said that Searles was being monitored at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for extremely high blood pressure and was also receiving counselling. His wife Regina was discharged.

Police explained that the father forgot the baby in the back of the car after he changed his usual routine while dropping his children to school.

“He usually takes the baby to the nursery first but on Wednesday he changed that routine and dropped off the other children to their schools. He forgot that the baby was still in the car,” an officer said calling it an “honest mistake”.

Searles was described by family members as a caring and dedicated father who was deeply involved in the lives of all of his children.