Mother of 11-month-old who died in hot SUV attends shelter hearing

Elaine Weaver temporarily lost custody of children in 1995

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The mother of an 11-month-old baby who died after being left in a hot sport utility vehicle in Lauderhill attended a shelter hearing for her remaining children Thursday.

Lauderhill police said the infant's family members went grocery shopping, returned to their apartment complex off Northwest 19th Street, unloaded the groceries and, after about an hour, realized the baby was nowhere to be found.

That's when they went to the parking lot and found the baby inside the SUV, Lt. Gregory Solowsky said.

"The family members opened up the door, saw that the child was unresponsive, immediately began CPR and then contacted the police and fire-rescue," Solowsky said.

Paramedics took the baby to Plantation General Hospital, where the child was pronounced dead. 

Elaine Weaver was joined by her husband, Kenneth Weaver, at Thursday's shelter hearing. Her four other children, ages 2, 5, 12 and 13, are now in the care of a relative while the Department of Children and Families investigates.

Elaine Weaver temporarily lost custody of one of her children in 1995. She completed an improvement plan and was reunited with that child.

"She got the children back," attorney Jeff Levy said. "She has always cooperated with the Department of Children and Families and ChildNet, and I am expecting that they will offer her another reunification case plan. It was a terrible accident I understand."

Judge Hope Tieman Bristol ruled that the parents would have limited contact with their children.

"Supervised visits by the department only at this point, and I am going to admonish the parents to not discuss the facts of this case with their children until their statements have been taken by police," the judge said.

Kenneth Weaver had nothing to say about the child's death.

"I don't want to talk about it," Kenneth Weaver said. "Please respect that. My son has just died, so leave me alone."