Deputy: Officer will be charged in death of her child left in car

JACKSON, Miss. – A law enforcement official in Mississippi said a former police officer will face criminal charges in the death of her 3-year-old daughter, who authorities said was left alone in a parked patrol car for four hours last week.

Hancock County Chief Deputy Don Bass told the Associated Press on Wednesday that officials plan to charge Cassie Barker with manslaughter as soon as she is released from a hospital.

Barker and another Long Beach officer, Sgt. Clark Ladner, were fired Tuesday by that city’s Board of Alderman for violating department policies. Authorities said Barker left Cheyenne Hyer strapped in a child seat in a patrol car while inside Ladner’s house.

Bass said that officials don’t plan to charge Ladner.