Man gets 6 months in prison, grief therapy for leaving son in hot car while working CHS Field event
Kristopher Taylor, 26, left his 4-year-old son Riley in a hot car for over five hours while he worked an event at CHS Field last May.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - An Apple Valley, Minnesota man was sentenced to a year in prison Friday for leaving his 4-year-old son in a hot car while he worked an event at CHS Field last spring, resulting in his death.
Kristopher Taylor, 26, told police he could not find anyone to watch his son, Riley, while he was working GrillFest at the stadium in downtown St. Paul last May, so he left him in the car for at least five hours, leaving the window down about a half inch.
Taylor will serve six months in jail with work and grief therapy release and six months on electronic home monitoring, also with work and grief therapy release. The judge also ordered him to pay $2,918 in restitution to repay the cost of his son’s funeral expenses.
Kristopher Taylor, 26, left his 4-year-old son Riley in a hot car for over five hours while he worked an event at CHS Field last May.
The judge noted that Taylor, who has no criminal history, took full responsibility and showed tremendous remorse for what happened.
In an emotional statement before the sentence was handed down, Taylor, who had plans to go to law school, described the grief and pain he felt.
“I miss my son, a lot,” he said. “No one can hate me more than I hate myself.”
Taylor reports to the workhouse in Maplewood on Oct. 25 to begin serving his sentence.