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Oops, He Did It Again

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Supporters of John Michael Dunton, the Anaheim father whose infant daughter died of heatstroke in his hot car while he went to work, question why police arrested Dunton while authorities released Mark Warschauer, the professor whose son died in a similar manner last year.

Dunton's lawyer is asking the DA for his client's release, claiming that Dunton was arrested for suspicion of willful harm to a child while Warschauer was never charged and his son's death was ruled a tragic mistake.

In the future, Dunton's supporters may want to mind their words more carefully when speaking to the press. In a 9/11/04 Los Angeles Times article, regarding the suicide watch placed on the distraught father, Dunton's friend and former landlord John Morad told reporter Mai Tran, "I nearly threw up when I saw it [news about the infant's death] on television. It's not John. He loved that baby to death."

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LAist doesn't understand how both men could forget that they had a baby in the car. Maybe infant car seat manufacturers should include a "check-for-kid-in-the car" siren for sleep-deprived parents.

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