Foster dad pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in baby’s death in hot car

Her initials were K.P.J., and she was 10 months old. She died on July 24 after the man taking care of her left her strapped in a car on a hot day in Wichita.

That man, Seth Jackson, will be sentenced Jan. 30 in Sedgwick County District Court; he entered a guilty plea to one count of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday.

Judge Bruce Brown, after Jackson told him of his decision to plead guilty, explained that he could be sentenced to prison for anywhere from 31 to 136 months and fined up to $300,000. He told Jackson he had a right to a preliminary hearing and if necessary, a trial. Jackson nodded.

“I would like to waive my right, please,” Jackson said.

Jackson, one of K.P.J.’s two foster parents, was originally charged with first-degree murder. Court officials said that charge was amended to second-degree murder and then dropped after Jackson agreed to the plea.

Jackson told the judge he’d not been pressured into the plea agreement and said his mind was clear. Brown asked whether he was taking any drugs.

“I take medications for mental health, but they don’t affect my decision-making skills,” Jackson replied.

His attorney, Les Hulnick, told Brown that Jackson has been taking prescription antidepressants and psychotropic drugs since August, a month after the girl’s death.

“It does not affect his thinking, and keeps him stable,” Hulnick told Brown. “Without it, he might not be as clear as he is today.”

Prosecutors say that Jackson and another foster parent were smoking marijuana on July 24 while the girl stayed strapped in her car seat in the back seat of a Dodge Charger parked outside their home. After her death, Jackson told police that he’d left her in the car after he drove up and carried pizza into his home. A 5-year-old under his care got out of the car.

In the courtroom, Jackson looked alert and gave clear answers to Brown’s questions. Hulnick, after the hearing, said his client didn’t want to talk about the case publicly.

According to Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett, Jackson had taken the 5-year-old to a drug dealer’s house to get more marijuana. He told police he picked up the 10-month-old from a babysitter, returned home and went inside to smoke more pot. The 5-year-old got out of the car, but the 10-month-old was left in the vehicle.

One of the foster parents realized that the baby was in the car when he heard a baby crying on a television show they were watching, according to an affidavit. They rushed outside, but her body was hot and already stiff, and she was unresponsive, according to court documents.

On the day of the girl’s death, officers were sent to the house at 1525 S. Topeka at about 6:41 p.m. July 24, and found the girl lying on her back on the couch and not breathing. The foster parents had “tried performing CPR but could not get her mouth open,” according to the affidavit.

According to investigators, arriving officers saw Jackson standing in the front yard. Jackson made about four phone calls and said, “I left her in the car, she’s dead, she’s dead.”

Authorities estimate the girl had been left in the car for about 2 1/2 hours.

This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Foster dad pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in baby’s death in hot car."