Mother leaves baby in BOILING HOT car for FIVE HOURS while she gambles, baby left with permanent brain damage

Mom, 34, left her baby in a hot car for five hours while gambling and tried to cover up her crime. 

• A reckless mother left her baby alone in a boiling hot car for hours while she was gambling.
• The child now suffers brain damage, blindness, and other permanent injuries that affect everything from his speech to his capacity to move, see, and eat. 
• The mother is expected to receive not more than 5 years of jail time for her atrocious crime. 

On Wednesday, Kaija Millar, 34, pleaded guilty to negligence, causing serious injury to her then 14-month old baby. At the time of the life-threatening incident, temperatures in Point Cook, Melbourne, Australia, had reached 37.5°C(99.5°F).

While baby Easton was trapped inside the car, his mom was playing bingo and the pokies inside the Brook Hotel, Daily Mail reveals.

The helpless child was strapped inside the boiling hot vehicle for five hours, with all windows rolled up and the air conditioning turned off. Unfortunately, when his mom finally decided to check up on him, it was already too late.

The County Court of Victoria heard Easton’s internal temperature had escalated to 40°C(104°F), causing his fragile body to go into renal failure. Tragically, the baby’s liver was deranged, his eyesight was lost, his skin had turned a shade of “grey-blue,” and his brain was severely damaged.

Instead of confessing her crime, Millar told an emergency operator Easton was suffering from smoke inhalation from nearby bushfires. 

In another attempt to cover up her atrocious deed, the wicked mom claimed the windows had all been rolled down and that she had been conducting regular checks on her baby.

Eventually, she cried:

“I don’t want to go to jail!”

Despite her lies, CCTV footage from the hotel venue exposed what had actually happened. Besides, according to Crown prosecutor Neill Hutton, Millar had been a regular at the pokies venue way before her terrible crime.

Sadly, little Easton will now suffer the consequences of his mother’s irresponsible behavior. Following the dreadful incident, the child is forced to live with permanent injuries that will affect everything from his speech to his capacity to move, see, and eat. What’s worse, his life expectancy has dramatically decreased.

However, the jail time Millar would face would be a maximum of five years. Reportedly, she would get nowhere near the max sentence.

Michael Allen, Millar’s attorney, told Judge Felicity Hampel that his client’s actions were triggered by her rough childhood. He explained that she had been bullied at school and had cognitive impairment. Moreover, she had been “utterly overwhelmed by the demands of motherhood.”

Meanwhile, her husband, Steve, was allegedly “controlling and critical,” forcing her to seek the company of the elderly pokie venue crew. She was also suffering from postpartum depression.

Additionally, the barrister claimed Millar had been deemed by doctors to be of extremely low intelligence.

However, the court heard she had the intelligence to commit past crimes, as she still faces serious pending allegations. Previously, she had scammed many unsuspecting victims in a “puppy” scheme.

Understanding that the court doesn’t buy her claims of an alleged mental impairment, Millar tried another strategy. This time, her attorney said she had been deeply remorseful for her actions and accepted it was all her own fault.

Speaking to police, Easton’s mother said:

“I didn’t do this deliberately. I didn’t do this to hurt my son.”

Although Mr. Allen continued to insist that his client’s moral liability for the crime should be reduced due to her mental issues, Judge Hampel said she knew leaving her baby alone in the car was wrong.

Following the dire incident, Easton’s dad told the Herald Sun he was “heartbroken and devastated.” Mr. Millar added:

“It’s still touch-and-go at the moment — it’s 50-50 whether he’ll pull through. He has shown a few signs to me, when I’m talking to him you can see his mouth trying to move.”

Thankfully, Steve’s parents and his brothers had been accompanying him to the hospital daily as he held a bedside vigil for his son.

Easton’s mother, Kaija Millar, will be sentenced later this month.