A 22-year-old man with special needs died after being left in a hot car for hours by his caretaker, who was working a second job in North Carolina on Tuesday, August 20, according to police.
Rogers Lee Inge Jr., an employee of Universal Health Care, was responsible for looking after Dontarious Batts. However, Inge brought Batts with him to his secondary job as a janitor at Cleveland High School in Clayton, as reported by the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office.
Inge arrived at the school for his 8 a.m. shift and left Batts in the car with the windows closed and the engine off. He checked on Batts two hours later, stating that the 22-year-old appeared to be fine.
Inge, 55, continued working and left Batts in the car for over six hours. When he returned to the car at 4:17 p.m., he found Batts unresponsive. He drove to a local fire station in Clinton with Batts still in the car, calling 911 on the way. Authorities who met him at the station pronounced Batts dead.
Inge has been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. An autopsy is pending, but investigators believe Batts’ death was caused by the heat inside the car, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office said.
On that day, temperatures reached 81 degrees, and inside a car, temperatures can rise to 109 degrees within 20 minutes and 123 degrees within an hour, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Inge was booked into Johnston County jail with a $35,000 bond and has been dismissed from his position at Johnston County Public Schools.
