Detective: Mom made ‘horrible, horrible’ mistake in hot-car death

Dijanelle and Skylar Fowler in an April 28, 2017 Facebook photo.

Credit: HANDOUT

Credit: HANDOUT

Dijanelle and Skylar Fowler in an April 28, 2017 Facebook photo.

A month after a 1-year-old girl's death in a hot car,  DeKalb County police aren't exactly sure what led her mother to allegedly leave her for some six hours while she got her hair done.

“That’s the million dollar question,” Capt. Jerry A. Lewis told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. “She seemed to be a good kid. No criminal history. Just made a mistake. A horrible, horrible mistake.”

Dijanelle Fowler, 25, is charged with second-degree murder and child neglect in the mid-June death of Skylar Fowler. The mom made her first appearance in magistrate court Tuesday night but still has no bond. The charge of second-degree murder makes her only eligible for bond in superior court.

The preliminary hearing for her case, in which more information could be released, is Aug. 3, according to court officials.

Her attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Warrants allege Fowler left Skylar in the car with the air conditioning running.

Lewis, captain in the major crimes unit, said no one in the Lavista Road salon knew the child was in the car.

When the mother emerged from the salon, the car had shut off, police said.

The child was found dead in an Emory University Hospital parking deck when the mother went there and dialed 911 to report that she herself was "having a seizure of some kind," the warrants allege.

Read more of the story here.

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