ANNA MARIE LILLIE - 9 months (6/2014)/ Charged: Father; Steven Darnell Lillie - Rockledge FL

Florida dad charged with aggravated manslaughter after leaving baby in pickup truck

Steven Darnell Lillie, 31, of Cocoa, was booked into the Brevard County Detention Center Friday, four days after his beautiful, cherubic baby Anna's tragic death. The shell-shocked father has admitted to forgetting his 9-month-old in his truck, causing her to suffer from heat stroke.

BY NINA GOLGOWSKI    NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, June 20, 2014, 3:23 PM

A Florida man whose 9-month-old daughter died after left to bake inside his hot pickup truck has been arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter.

Steven Darnell Lillie, 31, of Cocoa, was booked into the Brevard County Detention Center Friday, four days after his beautiful, cherubic baby's tragic death.

"Anna was the greatest thing to happen in my world," the shell-shocked father told WFTV Thursday of his daughter, Anna Marie Lillie.

After losing his daughter, the torn dad expressed hope that if anything good comes from his child's death, it's that it brings awareness to other parents.

After losing his daughter, the torn dad expressed hope that if anything good comes from his child's death, it's that it brings awareness to other parents.

"She had just started saying 'dada.' She'd run around the house in her little walker: 'Dada, dada, da,'" he recounted with tears in his eyes.

Lillie was driving into work Monday morning with plans to drop the baby off at her grandmother's house

The baby died from heat stroke, making the 12th similar death for a child in the U.S. this year, according to KidsandCards.org, which tracks vehicular accidents involving children.

Two days later that figure rose by one more when a 22-month-old boy was found dead in the backseat of his father's car in Cobb County, Georgia.

Justin Ross Harris, 33, of Marietta, was charged with murder and cruelty to children.

Speaking to a WFTV reporter Lillie expressed hopes that if anything good comes from his child's death, it's that it brings awareness to other parents to pay better attention when transporting their children.

"Keep something in the front seat to remind you," he said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fla-dad-charged-baby-dies-hot-truck-article-1.1837883#ixzz35TT6fF7j

Father of baby who died in hot car released on bond

Scott Gunnerson, Florida Today
7:32 a.m. EDT June 23, 2014

A stoic Steven Lillie with hands and feet shackled said nothing during his first appearance in front of a judge Saturday, five days after his daughter died in a hot vehicle.

He stared straight ahead wearing a green anti-suicide smock as he listened to his attorney Jennifer Collins Mostert, who negotiated the terms of his release. Lillie faces a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child.

Lillie, 31, was arrested Friday following a Rockledge Police Department investigation into the death of his 9-month-old daughter, Anna Marie Lillie, who died Monday after being left in a hot vehicle for nearly four hours.

In a courtroom inside the Brevard County Jail in Sharpes, Judge George Turner ruled that there was probable cause to continue after reviewing the non-capital murder, first-degree felony case.

He accepted the recommendations of $15,000 bond from state and defense attorneys.

"He is not a flight risk, he has extensive family here," Mostert told the judge.

Turner, however, prohibited Lillie from being alone with children younger than 12 years old.

On Monday, his daughter was left in her father's black pickup truck for nearly four hours in the parking lot of a Rockledge commercial plaza while Steven Lillie worked inside.

He found the child in the truck and called 9-1-1 after receiving a call from a relative asking about the infant's whereabouts.

Lillie said that he had been distracted as he pulled into the plaza to work at the Fraternal Order of Police in Barton Plaza as a phone solicitor.

"She's been in the car for hours, and I absolutely forgot about her," Lillie stated on a 9-1-1 call. "She's not alive."

Lillie, who police described as distraught, told authorities he had intended to leave his daughter with her grandmother before going to work.

Lillie, who was released from jail at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday, will make his next court appearance in front of Judge George Maxwell at 8 a.m. July 29 at the Viera courthouse.

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/crime/2014/06/21/father-of-baby-who-died-in-hot-car-makes-first-court-appearance/11208479/

Brevard father faces murder charge in baby's hot truck death
9-month-old girl dies after being found in pickup truck

Author: Justin Warmoth, Reporter, jwarmoth@wkmg.com
Published On: Aug 22 2014 10:45:19 AM EDT  
Updated On: Aug 22 2014 06:26:30 PM EDT

Rockledge, FL - A Brevard County father accused of leaving a 9-month-old girl alone in a hot vehicle for hours now faces a charge of murder, officials announced Friday.

Steven Lillie, 31, who was initially arrested in June on charges of aggravated manslaughter in the death of his daughter, Anna Marie Lille, now faces felony third-degree murder charges.

Lillie found his daughter unresponsive in his pickup truck outside his workplace at 566 Barton Boulevard, according to police, who said Anna Marie had been left inside the closed truck for about four hours during the hottest time of the day.

Police said Lillie intended to drop his daughter off with a caregiver before going into work. Some type of disruption in Lillie's normal routine, however, caused him to forget that he had not dropped off the baby, according to police.

About four hours later, a family member asking about the girl prompted Lillie to run outside, officials said, where he found his daughter inside the truck.

In discussing the charges, the state attorney's office said the murder charge better fits the allegations.

"We had to carefully look, considering all statutes that were out there and all of the facts, and we determined that these were the best charges that fit all the facts and circumstances of this case," said Julia Lynch with the state attorney's office.

With initially being charged with aggravated manslaughter, police believed there was negligence involved in the death of Anna Marie. However, Lynch poured over evidence and interviews and believes this was all just a tragic accident, but Lillie still needs to be held accountable.

"We realize he didn't set out that day to harm or hurt his child, but if a person does the act, then they have to able to take the responsibility for that act," said Lynch.

Lillie is also being charged with voluntary manslaughter and leaving a child unattended. He bonded out of jail back in June and won't be rearrested for the new charges.

If convicted of the third-degree murder, he could face up to 20 years in prison, officials said.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/brevard-father-faces-murder-charge-in-babys-hot-truck-death/27680226