Alabama Man Charged With Manslaughter After 1-Year-Old Found Dead in Vehicle

An Alabama man has been charged with manslaughter after his 1-year-old child was found dead in a vehicle, still strapped into a car seat, authorities said. Multiple agencies responded to a home in Brookwood, in Tuscaloosa County, Wednesday evening after the child's family reported that the infant was found dead in the vehicle.

Initial investigation shows that the child was in the vehicle for an extended amount of time, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office Violent Crimes Unit Capt. Jack Kennedy said in a statement. Temperatures that afternoon were in the mid-90s. The child had been in the sole care of its father all day, Kennedy said.

The father reported that he believed the child had been sleeping in its crib but must have been left behind in the vehicle.

The father, identified as 30-year-old Logan Keith Chewning, allegedly admitted to drinking at different points throughout the day and leaving the residence at one point to buy more alcohol, authorities said. Chewning was charged with manslaughter following consultation with the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney's Office.

He is being held in jail, with a bond to be set by a judge at a later date. The child's exact cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner, authorities said.