A homeless Nevada man will presumably not face jail time but proceed to probation after his disabled 81-year-old mother was discovered lifeless after he left her in a hot car for hours while he went to work.
On July 14, 2020, Edward Sibley reportedly left his elderly mother, who was in a t-shirt and diaper, inside his parked car as he went to work, News4 reported. He had left her with food for lunch as well as the car keys so she could turn on the air conditioning if it got too hot.
Sibley argued that he had nowhere else to leave her since they were homeless, spending the last summer living from motel to motel.
Reports show that the son left her at around past 7 in the morning that day. Sibley repeatedly said she was fine and was able to provide her a burrito for lunch.
However, the car was parked under extreme heat at about 96 degrees. The son protested that he couldn’t find a shady area to park. He also mentioned that he left her the car keys so she could turn on the air conditioner if the heat got unbearable.
The elderly woman was found with “ no cell phone, was unable to walk, unable to drive, and unable to seek shade from the heat and sun," a police report stated.
At around 3:30 p.m. later that day, two passersby found the elderly woman “drooling and unconscious” inside the hot car in the sun. They promptly alerted authorities.
Police have concluded that the mother suffered a heatstroke as her body temperature was at 106 degrees as recorded by first responders and EMTs, Fox New noted.
The elderly woman was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead upon arrival.
A Chihuahua, still alive, was also retrieved from the car. It was brought into custody but later returned to the Sibley son.
Originally, Sibley had been indicted with elderly abuse. However, the district attorney has given him special considerations as a homeless man that's trying to actively better his circumstances.
“Initially when it came in it was charged as a felony. After additional review and a lot of the circumstances came to light, it was tragic but tragedy doesn’t always equate to felony charges," Washoe County District Attorney's spokeswoman Michelle Bays said.
Sibley then agreed to deal with a lesser charge of gross misdemeanor on June 3.
"That hinged on poor choices, very difficult circumstances. There was homelessness involved, there were certainly attempts to care but the bad decision really hinged on the circumstances of that day," Bays said. "There wasn’t proof or evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt and there really wasn’t evidence at all to prove that he had any intent to cause harm."
Sibley is set to be sentenced in August with the possibility of being imprisoned for a year or remain under probation.
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