Samantha Harper (25) left her two children to die in a hot car while she slept

[HockeyGirl]

http://mydeathspace.com/article/2012...hile_she_slept







SMYRNA, Tenn. - Family members and neighbors of a woman charged with her children's deaths are still shocked by the crime.


Samantha Harper, 25, was charged with two counts of especially aggravated child abuse after her two young children were found dead in their driveway.


Officials were called out to the home on 9584 Old Nashville Highway just before 4 p.m. Thursday. Smyrna Police Sgt. Bobby Gibson said the two children, three-year-old Daniel, and two-year-old Savannah Marise appeared to have died from heat stroke after being trapped in a hot car.

Police said Harper admitted to putting the children in the car, fell asleep, and later found the children and called 911. Officials believed the children were in the car for about an hour.


"It doesn't take a lot of time before it can become a deadly situation for someone trapped inside a car," said Smyrna Police Sgt. Gibson.

Police said the children's father was not home at the time of the incident. Old Nashville Highway in front of the home was closed for nearly a mile in each direction while officers investigated the scene.

Police also searched Harper's house during their investigation and found what they described as "deplorable" conditions. The house will now be condemned.

Harper's aunt says she still doesn't fully understand what happened and believes Harper was a good mother who loved her children.

"I just know her and I know her mother, and she wouldn't do that, she wanted babies every since she was a baby," said Estella Ship, Harper's Aunt.

Smyrna police say Harper has no criminal history. However, on September 29, 2011, LaVergne Police filed a child neglect report against Harper, which resulted in a referral to the Department of Children's services.

A memorial of flowers, signs and teddy bears now sits in the front yard of Harper's home. Neighbors stopped by throughout the day Friday to pay their respects.

"I just don't understand it. It broke my heart," said neighbor Debbie Herston, "this has to touch anyone who is a parent."

Harper remains in the Rutherford County Jail on a $200,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 9. Other charges may be pending. Autopsy results are still pending, as well.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/19...ead-inside-car

[animosity]

what a bitch. she's got what y'all call 'the dead behind the eyes'.

[bowieluva]

Police also searched Harper's house during their investigation and found what they described as "deplorable" conditions. The house will now be condemned.

Sounds like someone had a mental break.

[McMama]

So, you just forget that you have two kids? Yeah, no.

[animosity]

who puts the kids in the car and then falls asleep. if that's not murder, i don't know what is.

[bowieluva]

It sounds like she was also in hoarder mode which is a strong indication of mental illness.

[animosity]

or slob or tweeker.

[animosity]

my guess it drugs... hoarding and falling asleep after putting the kids in the car?

but then again, i always guess drugs.

[McMama]

It sounds like she was also in hoarder mode which is a strong indication of mental illness.

This is true. Deplorable living conditions could also mean that she was just nasty and never cleaned up her home. Hoarders are one thing, lazy is another. I would think drugs because it would be very difficult to get out of a car knowing you have two very young children to care for, and just fall asleep.

[animosity]

Police said Harper admitted to putting the children in the car, fell asleep, and later found the children and called 911. Officials believed the children were in the car for about an hour.

to me, this reads, she didn't 'leave them in the car' but rather, put them in the car and then went back in and fell asleep.

[HockeyGirl]

good point. I missed that the first time i read it

[animosity]

i love it how mom's have a built in accidental death, get rid of kids excuse. if you do it right, i guess. you leave them in the car AFTER you get home from shopping... not BEFORE you go anywhere.

[UncomfortablyNumb]

Ya know, there have been plenty of times that my kids woke up waaaay earlier than I wanted to. However, I never thought to myself "Hmmmmm I think I'll go put them in the car and go back to bed." It was more like "Hmmmm....here's some Backyardigans and a bowl of cereal and I am going to be a zombie on the couch for a little bit." I mean....hello? Poor babies...as hot as it has been lately I get cranky sitting in a car for 5 minutes with the windows rolled down...but an hour? Fuck this bitch.

[Smallville78]

Harper's aunt says she still doesn't fully understand what happened and believes Harper was a good mother who loved her children.

im going to go with no, she was not a good mother a good mother does not lock her kids in the car for them to die

[White trash bitchy blonde]

Ah, fuck the bitch and throw her in a hot fucking car and let her rot.

Mental or not, hoarnder or not, druggy or not....those babies were too damn innocent.

Fuck her.


RIP little ones, you deserved a better momma. Oh and fuck her relatives with all the 'ooohhh she wanted babies since she was one herself, blah blah blah'.

[rachy]

Smyrna children's deaths break neighbors' hearts
Child neglect report was filed against mother last year

Smyrna residents Pat Garland and her 9-year-old son, Noah, were still in disbelief on Friday as they placed a bouquet of flowers at the makeshift memorial set up just steps away from where two small children died Thursday.

I don't know them, but it just breaks my heart for these babies, said Garland, 40, as she lit a candle for 2-year-old Savannah Marise and 3-year-old Daniel Marise.

Smyrna police have charged the children?s mother, Samantha Harper, 25, with two counts of especially aggravated child abuse in connection with their deaths. Harper is being held on $200,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 9.

On Thursday, when police arrived at Harper's home, 9584 Old Nashville Highway, shortly before 4 p.m., they found the children lying on the ground beside a red four-door car, police spokesman Sgt. Bobby Gibson said. They had died from apparent heat stroke.

Their father was at work at the time, and police are not releasing his identity, Gibson said.

It's safe to say they were in there for at least an hour, Gibson said. According to a Smyrna General Sessions Court affidavit, Samantha Harper told police she placed the children in the car, went back into her home and fell asleep. No further explanation was given and Gibson did not comment on the affidavit.

Smyrna police said Harper had no criminal history on file there. But, on Sept. 29, 2011, La Vergne police filed a child neglect report against her. The report states that two children were found by neighbors outside the residence.

An officer wrote that when he responded both children were inside the home. He saw a little girl holding several screwdrivers in her arms and a drill bit in her hand.

I found the suspect Samantha Faye Harper asleep in a bedroom, the report reads. It is unknown if drugs or alcohol were a factor in this incident, but the suspect's speech seemed slow at times. She also had a hard time remembering her children's birthdays. She stated she was sleeping hard.

The La Vergne officer also noted that the residence was a hazard to young children, with dirty floors, fast-food bags and food bowls scattered about. A referral was made to the Department of Children's Services and it did respond, but no charges were filed against Harper, Gibson said.

Home condemned
Hours after Thursday night's investigation, the Harper home was condemned because of unsanitary living conditions, Gibson added.

The conditions of the La Vergne home were similar to what we have now, he said. It was very dirty. Lots of trash, debris, food, ants, food on the floor, on furniture, used diapers and cigarette butts. There was also no ventilation in the house. There was no air conditioning, so it was easily 90 degrees in there. It was cooler outside than inside.

On Friday, no one was at the house, and the neighbors were still in shock over the loss of two young lives.

Corky Gonzales, Harper's next-door neighbor, said she wasn't at home Thursday when the children were found, but one of her relatives who was home at the time later told her they never heard any cries for help.

Another neighbor, Justin Elliott, said he'd known Harper since he was about 16.

She seemed like a nice person,he said. I've never seen her be mean to the children. I'd seen her punish them, but it was no different than any other parent punishing a kid.

Elliott and his wife, Renee, both said they'd seen the children outside in the backyard before, playing by themselves. Renee Elliott said she'd always given Harper the benefit of the doubt.

Looking back, I probably should have said something. I wasn't here yesterday, but I wish I would have been. I could have heard something and then done something about it, Renee Elliott said. You always question yourself.

In the Harper family's fenced backyard, toys were scattered among knee-high grass.

A report of the various codes violations at the home was still being prepared Friday, said Smyrna Codes Building Official Steve Smith.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...ighbors-hearts

[kevansvault]

Ugh. Disgusting. Knee high grass to us is chest and neck high to a 2 and 3 year old. You nasty, irresponsible gank. WTF are you thinking? I think they oughtta put her fat ugly ass in a hot car for a few hours so she knows how her babies felt before they died. She was probably searching for the partially eaten Big Mac she had earlier in the day when she fell asleep. RIP you poor little babies. You deserved so much better.

[poppy213]

Instead of protecting the fathers name, I think he should be charged with neglect. If he lived in the house, he was quite aware of the living situation.

How come the 3 year old couldn't get out of the car? Were they locked in? (My 3 year old dismantles the childproof locks on the front door at home. Nothing can stop her.)

[White trash bitchy blonde]

Instead of protecting the fathers name, I think he should be charged with neglect. If he lived in the house, he was quite aware of the living situation.

How come the 3 year old couldn't get out of the car? Were they locked in? (My 3 year old dismantles the childproof locks on the front door at home. Nothing can stop her.)

I had thought about the same thing and it's either one of two things imo: First, the children were already asleep and plus being left in the car, they were already going into some kind of shock. Second, not all kiddos can or know how to unlock themselves from their car seats. All my boys knew how to do it so it seems likely to me that the first scenario is really what happened.

[moosella]

Samantha's FB- http://www.facebook.com/samantha.harper.944?sk=wall

Nothing much really to see. I have screen shots just in case RON.

[TheFavoriteDaughter]

Honestly, to me it sounds like she has a cognitive disability. The desire to have children so young but without knowing how to care for them, the lack of understanding of why leaving children in the car is a bad idea, the dead behind the eyes look....
Just throwing that out there.

[puzzld]

There was no air conditioning, so it was easily 90 degrees in there. It was cooler outside than inside.

Can't you see? She was trying to say the children.



My thought is that the kids were being noisy so she stuck them in the car so she could go back to sleep.

[krazegirl]

Samantha's FB- http://www.facebook.com/samantha.harper.944?sk=wall

Nothing much really to see. I have screen shots just in case RON.

Her boyfriends name is Bubba. Nothing ever good happens when a Bubba is around.

[beli]

Her boyfriends name is Bubba. Nothing ever good happens when a Bubba is around.

Racist!

[krazegirl]

Racist!

Don't tell anyone!