A 20-year-old man has been arrested Tuesday after showing up at the Snellville Police Department, where officers discovered he was wanted on a probation violation warrant. Police say he failed to inform them that his 8-month-old daughter was outside in a vehicle.
According to 11Alive, Davied Japez McCorry Whatley arrived at the police station around 2 p.m. to pick up handguns that had been seized in a prior case. Whatley was detained by police while with the “property custodian” for a misdemeanor probation violation arising from a hit-and-run crash with no vehicle insurance.
According to police, he never mentioned leaving his infant daughter, Nova Grace Whatley-Trejo, in the car. The grandmother took the baby to Piedmont Eastside Medical Center’s emergency room around 9 p.m. that evening.
Nova was pronounced dead at the hospital after being in the car for 7 hours at the police station. The baby was left in a car “after a traffic stop,” according to the grandmother.
Police discovered Whatley’s vehicle in the parking lot of the nearby Snellville City Hall after learning of the baby’s death.
According to authorities, he never mentioned leaving his baby daughter in the car. They stated that the the whole interaction with the man, from the moment they met in the reception area to the moment he arrived in jail, was captured on police bodycam.
Whatley bonded out of jail Tuesday night for the probation violation but was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder in connection with his daughter’s death, according to police.
According to 11Alive meteorologists, the high temperature in metro Atlanta was around 86 degrees.
The GBI is currently investigating the case, and the findings will be turned over to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.
