--- description: Her mother, a police officer, left her in the car for four hours while visiting another officer. title: Mississippi 3-Year-Old Found Dead After Mom Left Her in Patrol Car For Hours image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mississippi 3-Year-Old Found Dead After Mom Left Her in Patrol Car For Hours by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 5, 2016 9:06 PM CUT by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 5, 2016 9:06 PM CUT The daughter of a Mississippi police officer was found dead after [she was left for hours in her mom’s patrol car](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/05/3-year-old-dies-after-being-left-alone-in-mothers-patrol-car-for-hours/?utm%5Fterm=.671028aa88d4 "undefined"), authorities said. The officer, Cassie Baker of Long Beach, left daughter Cheyenne Hyer, 3 in the car for four hours after ending her patrol shift Friday morning and visiting another officer’s home, according to [WLOX](http://www.wlox.com/story/33317321/chief-long-beach-officer-traumatized-by-daughters-death "undefined"). When emergency officials reached the scene, Cheyenne was unresponsive, according to the _Post_. Paramedics reportedly attempted to save the girl for 40 minutes, but she was pronounced dead at the hospital. Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell told WLOX he was “shocked” and “devastated.” “As you can imagine, something that I really can’t see any excuse for,” he said. The department initially suspended both Barker and the officer she was visiting, Clark Ladner, but they were both terminated as of Tuesday, the Washington _Post_ reports. Barker remains hospitalized after the incident and is reportedly dealing with trauma of the death of her daughter. Cheyenne’s father, Ryan Hyer, [set up a GoFundMe page](https://www.gofundme.com/2seb6ctk?ssid=759663653&pos=1 "undefined") to pay for her burial. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4520372/mississippi-toddler-patrol-car-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4520372/mississippi-toddler-patrol-car-death/"},"headline":"Mississippi 3-Year-Old Found Dead After Mom Left Her in Patrol Car For Hours","datePublished":"2016-10-05T21:06:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:01:57.235Z","description":"Her mother left her in the car for four hours while visiting another officer","url":"https://time.com/4520372/mississippi-toddler-patrol-car-death/","keywords":["Crime","Mississippi"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4520372/mississippi-toddler-patrol-car-death/","name":"Mississippi 3-Year-Old Found Dead After Mom Left Her in Patrol Car For Hours"}}]}] ```