Thursday, August 22, 2024 -A 22-year-old special-needs man died after he was left in a hot car for hours by his caretaker who snuck off to his second job in North Carolina on Tuesday, August 20, according to police.
Rogers Lee Inge Jr., an employee of
Universal Health Care, was supposed to be looking after Dontarious Batts, but
the caretaker instead brought him along to his other job as a janitor at
Cleveland High School in Clayton, according to the Johnston County Sheriff’s
Office.
Inge arrived at the school for his 8
a.m. shift and left Batts inside his car with the windows up and engine off.
The caretaker checked on Batt two
hours later, at which time Inge told police the 22-year-old was fine.
Inge, 55, went back to work and left
Batts inside for more than six hours, returning to the car at 4:17 p.m. to find
Batts unresponsive.
He then drove to a local fire station
in Clinton with Batt’s body still in the car, calling 911 on the way.
Authorities met Inge at the station and declared Batts dead.
Inge was taken into custody and
charged with involuntary manslaughter.
An autopsy will be conducted, but
investigators believe Batts died because of the heat inside the car, according
to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office.
Temperatures reached 81 degrees in the area
on Tuesday.
On an 80-degree day, temperatures inside of
a car can reach 109 degrees in just 20 minutes and 123 degrees within an hour,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Inge was taken to the Johnston County jail
where he was held under $35,000 bond.
He was fired from his job at Johnston
County Public Schools.
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