A toddler named Sayah Deal died in Las Vegas on Monday after she was left in a car and her father reportedly refused to allow anyone to break a window to get her out.
Peoplereported that 27-year-old Sidney Deal was arrested following the incident. Both Deal's brother and law enforcement tried to smash the car's windows to save the 1-year-old girl, but Deal refused.
“He immediately took his shirt off, wrapped it around his knuckles and was ready to punch the window,” according to the police report. “Sidney stopped him and said he wanted to wait for a tow truck. Sidney insisted he not damage his new vehicle, stating he had just bought the car and did not have the money to repair a broken window.”
The police eventually broke the window despite Deal being adamant about wanting to protect his vehicle. They discovered the infant was not breathing despite Deal saying she was fine. Local temperatures that day were recorded as high as 98 degrees.
"The dad said that the A/C was on and the kid was playing, and when the officers arrived, they saw that she was breathing,” police spokesman Larry Hadfield said during a press conference. “But when the officers got concerned for the child’s well-being, they broke the window.”
Deal is currently being held in Clark County Detention Center on $20,000 bail. His next hearing is set for Thursday.
“I don’t understand why police didn’t bust that window open first,” a concerned neighbor who watched the incident said. “You can always get another car, but you can’t get another life.”
There was a vigil held for 1-year-old Sayah Deal on Tuesday afternoon, with roughly 100 people from her community in central Las Vegas joining to pay their condolences for a tragic and senseless loss.
