TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma father is facing charges after his two young children were found dead inside a hot truck over the weekend, reported KJRH.
Dustin Lee Dennis is facing second-degree murder charges and is being held on a $1 million bond, according to records.
“All we wish is for more time,” said Chanteil Keys, the children’s aunt.
Tulsa police and the Child Crisis Unit received a call around 5:30 p.m. Saturday. They found a 3-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl dead inside a truck.
The father of the children — named Ryan and Teagan — told police he went to a convenience store with them and returned home to take a nap, KJRH reported. He said he fell asleep for four to five hours and awoke to find the children still in the truck.
The high temperature outside was 95 degrees.
“After about an hour, I think, on a 90-degree day, it can get up to 119 degrees inside,” said Matthew Arroyo, field operations supervisor for the Emergency Medical Services Authority.
Said Keys: “I can’t imagine what it was like in that vehicle. It would have been literally like being in an oven. Hopefully, they were asleep and went peacefully, but that, that is unknown.”
Detectives are looking into video taken by a neighbor that shows Dennis leaving the truck and locking the doors without getting the children out, KJRH reported.
“It is a 100-percent preventable thing. That never has to happen,” Keys said. “Always check your back seat.”
