A Florida man faces charges of aggravated manslaughter and child neglect after his 18-month-old son died in a hot truck. According to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, Scott Allen Gardner, 33, left his son Sebastian in the vehicle for over three hours while he got a haircut and drank at Hanky Panky’s Lounge in Ormond Beach.
Authorities reported that Sebastian’s body temperature reached 111 degrees. Despite efforts by a police officer to revive him, the child was pronounced dead at the scene. Gardner was arrested nearly two weeks later at his mother’s home in Ormond Beach.
During the investigation, Gardner provided multiple false accounts of the events that day. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood announced that he would discuss the incident further in a press conference on Friday (June 20).
The National Safety Council reports that an average of 37 children under 15 die each year from heatstroke after being left in vehicles. In 2024, 39 children died this way, and at least six have been reported so far in 2025.
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