Warrant Details Father’s 911 Call After Son’s Hot Car Death In East Windsor

EAST WINDSOR, CT — A South Windsor father told a 911 dispatcher that the air conditioning was not running after finding his 1-year-old son unresponsive in a pickup truck at an East Windsor farm, according to a newly released search warrant.

Kevin Pell, 47, called 911 at about 2:25 p.m. Aug. 15 from 153 Rockville Road in Broad Brook. During the call, Pell said his son had been left in the vehicle and was blue and not breathing, the warrant states.

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"My son might be dead," Pell told the dispatcher, according to investigators. He also said, "I left him in the car" and "The heat, I didn't have the AC on."

The account differs from what Pell later told an officer at the scene. According to the warrant, Pell said his son, Nathaniel Pell, had fallen asleep about an hour earlier and that he left the air conditioning running while the child remained in the truck.

The gray Toyota Tundra was parked in full sunlight with no visible shade, investigators wrote. Its windows and sunroof were closed. An officer found the truck running, with a rear-facing car seat positioned behind the driver's seat.

Officer Nicole Devlin was the first to arrive and found the child inside a greenhouse, according to the warrant. The boy was blue, unresponsive and not breathing. Devlin began chest compressions before other officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel arrived.

The child was taken to Connecticut Children's Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Pell told police he had been talking on the phone while driving with his son in the back seat. He said he drove longer because the child had not yet fallen asleep, but told an officer he would have to check when asked how long he had been at the farm, according to the warrant.

Investigators seized Pell's password-protected iPhone and sought records from AT&T covering the 24 hours before the 911 call. Police said the records could help establish Pell's location and show calls, messages and other activity around the time of the incident.

A return filed with the court states that police obtained the telephone records Aug. 24.

Pell is charged with risk of injury to a child. He appeared Thursday in Hartford Superior Court, where the case was continued to Oct. 16. He is free on a $1 million bond.

The charge is an allegation, and Pell is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Previous coverage: Father Charged After 1-Year-Old Son Dies In East Windsor

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