Mom sentenced to 5 years after baby dies in hot car during fast food shift

A mother from Louisiana, whose 10-month-old daughter passed away after being left in a scorching car as she completed her shift at a fast-food restaurant, has received a prison sentence.

The Jefferson Davis Parish District Attorney's Office communicated through a press release on Wednesday (January 21) that Hannah Faith Cormier was given a five-year prison term with mandatory hard labour, without the possibility of probation, parole, or sentence suspension.

The severe sentence was a consequence of the victim being younger than 10 years.

Authorities apprehended Cormier in August 2024 after she informed them that she "accidentally forgot" her 10-month-old child in the car while working, according to a statement from the Jennings Police Department shared on Facebook at that time.

Law enforcement indicated that the infant endured in the hot car for roughly 90 minutes before being discovered and rushed to a local hospital, where medical staff endeavored to revive her. 

The child was then moved to another medical facility, where she was classified as being critically ill.

Tragically, according to the Associated Press, Cormier’s daughter later succumbed to what authorities described as heatstroke. 

The American Press detailed that the child's body temperature reached 109 degrees when admitted to the hospital, on a scorching day that saw outside temperatures in the 90s.

A grand jury charged Cormier on October 2, 2024, with negligent homicide, identified by Louisiana legislation as causing a fatality through criminal negligence, per the District Attorney's Office. 

Assistant District Attorney Torrie Thibodeaux oversaw the prosecution and “pursued a sentence between five and ten years” during the court's sentencing proceedings.

“She left the child in the car for an hour and a half during an August day where the temperature hit 95 degrees,” Thibodeaux stated during the hearing, as reported by American Press.

Yet, Cormier's defense lawyer, Bill Riley, voiced that there was significant "confusion" surrounding the events of the day, explaining that the mother was unwell and unexpectedly needed to work, as American Press noted. 

Moreover, Riley highlighted Cormier’s efforts in the aftermath, which included parenting and mental health therapy, along with the regained custody of her other four children, albeit with oversight.