RIDGEFIELD--Kyle Seitz appeared in court Wednesday, charged with criminally negligent homicide. He was released after arraignment on a promise to appear, but he must have supervised visits with his children.
Seitz was arrested on Tuesday for the death of his son, Benjamin.
Benjamin Seitz died in a hot car on July 7 after his father, Kyle, says he forgot the child was in the back seat. Benjamin was 15 months old, and his father was supposed to drop him at daycare that morning, but he forgot. When Kyle returned to pick Benjamin up from daycare, the employees said Benjamin had never arrived that morning. At that point, Kyle found his son unresponsive in the back seat of his car and drove him to Danbury Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
On Aug. 21 the state's medical examiner's office ruled Benjamin's death a homicide, and said it was caused by hyperthermia due to environmental exposure. At that time, the Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky released a statement saying, "The autopsy report is one factor to be considered by the state's attorney in the evaluation of the incident once the investigation's complete." The police department and state's attorney's office would not comment on if Kyle Seitz would be arrested.
Fox CT spoke with Kyle Seitz's lawyer, John Robert Gulash, who said, "Kyle has the full support of his family and friends. It's a very difficult time right now."
A local resident named Teresa commented on the ordeal, stating her shock that someone could forget their child in the car. "The baby died that day, this should have been done that day," she said. "The baby needed justice. Why it took so long? It's bureaucracy--lawyers or anything else."
Kyle Seitz turned himself in to the Ridgefield Police Headquarters after learning there was a warrant out for his arrest.
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