A 22-year-old special-needs man died after he was left in a hot car for hours by his caretaker who snuck off to his second job in North Carolina on Tuesday, according to police.
Rogers Lee Inge Jr., an employee of Universal Health Care, was supposed to be looking after Dontarious Batts, but the caretaker instead brought him along to his other gig working as a janitor at Cleveland High School in Clayton, according to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office.
Inge arrived at the school for his 8 a.m. shift and left Batts inside his car with the windows up and engine off.
The caretaker checked on Batt two hours later, at which time Inge told police the 22-year-old was fine.
Inge, 55, went back to work and left Batts inside for more than six hours, returning to the car at 4:17 p.m. to find Batts unresponsive, WRAL reported.
He then drove to a local fire station in Clinton with Batt’s body still in the car, calling 911 on the way. Authorities met Inge at the station and declared Batts dead.
Inge was taken into custody and charged with involuntary manslaughter.
An autopsy will be conducted, but investigators believe Batts died because of the heat inside the car, according to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office.
Temperatures reached 81 degrees in the area on Tuesday.
On an 80-degree day, temperatures inside of a car can reach 109 degrees in just 20 minutes and 123 degrees within an hour, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Inge was taken to the Johnston County jail where he was held under $35,000 bond.
He was fired from his job at Johnston County Public Schools, WRAL reported.
