Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - OUTRAGE! Woman fined just $25 for leaving tot to bake dead in sweltering SUV

Episode Date: December 5, 2018

When Brittany Borgess, 30, drove to work one morning in 2016, she forgot about the 4-year-old girl who was strapped into a child seat in her car. Samaria Moytka, the daughter of her boyfriend, died a terrible death that day from the intense heat that built up over six hours inside the parked car. Borgess was tried and found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Her only legal punishment was a $25 fine for a lesser offense. Nancy Grace talks with the Pennsylvania woman's father, Vic Borgess, who insists his daughter is being unfairly portrayed and attacked on social media. Nancy's experts include human behavior expert Susan Constantine, private investigator Vincent Hill, Atlanta lawyer & juvenile judge Ashley Willcott &reporter Leigh Egan. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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any parent. Go to crimestopshere.com and join the Justice Nation. Crimestopshere.com. God willing. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Donna Rooley-Burney has her hands full as she walks five of her grandkids to the pool. She says she can't imagine forgetting a child in a vehicle under any circumstance. You remember you brought them out the house, so you remember to take them with you. I don't see no excuse for it. We met the family just steps from the parking lot on West 4th Street in Williamsport, where police say four-year-old Samaria Motika lost her life after being left in a hot car when claims she forgot to drop the girl at

daycare before heading to work on Friday. A caregiver, a 30-year-old woman leaves her boyfriend's four-year-old little girl in a sweltering SUV over six hours on a 97 degree day outside. We are learning the 30-year-old girlfriend has just been fined $25. No jail time, $25. And joining me right now is a special guest. It is the girlfriend's father. Vic Borges, father of Brittany Renee Borges, is with us. Mr. Borges, thank you so much for being with us.

I know this was all a huge shock to you. Tell me what happened the day it was so hot outside and the top was left in the car. Yeah, that's about exactly what happened. And you have to look at the science behind this because stated in that framework, most people are going to say that there's no excuse. I mean, Nancy, yourself, could you imagine leaving a child in a hot, sweltering car, a baby? Could you imagine doing that yourself? No, I could not imagine it that's right and neither could she it's it's something that people don't understand people don't plan for and it happens in our

country on an average of 38 times every year there's i mean since the late 90s, when they started to make it a law to put car seats in the back seat because children were being injured and there were fatalities from airbags. In the late 90s, they started to require that the car seats go in the back seat. And this phenomena of this forgotten baby syndrome started to occur. The deaths and the fatalities... Well, I was trying to direct you to the day that Samaria died in the SUV. What happened that day? Brittany drove to work and lost awareness that Samaria was in the vehicle. Okay, what does that mean? Lost awareness the child was in the vehicle. It sounds like she passed out.

No, it's, I mean, you really, to put it, to understand it, you have to read and do a little research like we had to to understand it because just like yourself and the other people on the panel, nobody understands it. You even said you couldn't imagine doing it, but yet it happened. No, no, no, no, no. I have researched it and I have studied it very carefully in many criminal cases, many, many criminal cases. And I understand that people say it is a phenomenon that is some type of a physiological response.

But what I'm asking you is in your life, what happened the day Samaria died in a sweltering SUV? In my life that day, I was at a charity event, ironically, for a child with a heart condition that we helped sponsor. That's what I was doing that day until later that afternoon when I got in the office around 2.33 o'clock when Samaria was discovered in the vehicle. Okay. You're at your office, and what happens? As soon as Brittany left and went out to the vehicle, she opened the door of her vehicle and saw somebody. She didn't know who it was. She didn't realize that it was Samaria. And she came running back in screaming,

and then a group of us ran out. She was pretty much inaudible, but she was screaming. We didn't know what was going on. It was frantic. And we all ran out and didn't, I mean, it just, you just don't even know. I mean, it's just a, it's just a very high stress and tragic event. You don't know what's going on. Well, okay, let me ask you something, Mr. Borges. I'm grappling with what you're saying, and I'm trying to understand it. She put the child in the car. How could she not know that that was the child? Well, then you

didn't read and do the research that you said, Nancy, because if you read anything of Dr. Diamond, he explains this it's the basal ganglia part of the brain where our brain goes on autopilot it's very similar to uh planning to I mean don't I'm not trying to minimize this but it's very similar to planning to go to the grocery store so I'm at work and it's 4 30 and I think I'm gonna stop at the grocery store and pick up some milk and eggs and then I'm going to go home and then I get home and realize I didn't pick up milk and eggs and I go darn it I got to go back out and go to the store it's similar to when a doctor a surgeon is doing surgery and

leaves a sponge or an instrument inside of a patient and seals them up it's similar to when an airline pilot forgets to put his landing gear down and hundreds of people are injured or killed. It's that part of the human brain that doesn't function the way we want it to. It goes on to an autopilot where it affects the basal ganglia and the hippocampus and things like that.

I didn't know any of this stuff until I did the research. And that's what's happening now. Finally, as the awareness of this is starting to come out, even automobile manufacturers are finally, after all these years, trying to and starting to put sensors and monitors in these vehicles because this doesn't just happen 38 times a year. Excuse me, Mr. Borges. Mr. Borges. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. in these vehicles because this doesn't just happen 38 times a year excuse me mr borges mr borges

okay yeah you are stating that and instead of pointing the finger at me and everyone else for not reading your research consider the fact that we have read your research and question it. I don't have research. I'm just saying that. Yeah, well, you keep saying I haven't read the research. Let me tell you, I'm questioning the research because saying that I forgot to get the milk and the eggs at the grocery store, that's a far different claim than you claiming that she had a brain malfunction

forgetfulness is far different from a physical malfunction in the human brain forgetting something and a physical malfunction in the human brain are two very, very different things. And it's my understanding that Brittany Renee reached back and got something out of the car. And I'm just trying to reconcile how she didn't notice the child. That's inaccurate. She didn't reach back and get anything out of the vehicle. That's not true. So that's fictitious.

So then you're saying that the reports are wrong. I know you can analyze it and say, like, forgetting to pick up eggs at the grocery store, but it's kind of the same brain. It is the same brain function and mouth function and it's the same reason that the doctor like you didn't use the doctor scenario when a surgeon a professional that does the surgeries leaves instruments and okay i'll address that you're absolutely right i'm using all the examples you gave so i will address that one and as far as a doctor a physician leaving a sponge in a patient that is medical malpractice which can be involuntary manslaughter negligence that results in a death

so yes i will be happy to address that example good. When a doctor does that and that action results in a death, that is A, a civil lawsuit, B, a potential criminal prosecution. That's right, Nancy, and that's exactly what this is. This is exactly to your point. You're making a point here. Exactly. That's what happened here. Yeah, thank you. It was a point here. Exactly. That's what happened here. Yeah, thank you.

And when you kill somebody as a result of negligence, typically you go to jail. No, it goes to trial, Nancy. You know that. You're a litigator. I'm not going to continue to do this interview because you are trying to sensationalize this and create more of a tragedy. This is a terrible, terrible thing to do a terrible no i'm using your examples that you gave me you gave me these examples i'm trying to understand how it happened and instead of telling me how it happened you're talking about a doctor in surgery for getting milk and eggs. I'm asking you about what happened that day so I can understand it. I told you exactly what happened.

I don't know how you want me to embellish it, but she drove to work thinking that she did everything she was supposed to do that morning. Everything was checked off her list in her mind. And she came to work and it's called the forgotten baby syndrome. People lose awareness of these things. It's a terrible tragedy. And there's, like I said, there's 38 of these that happen on average a year. And, you know, she had, it's just a terrible thing. I mean, that's all you can say.

What else can I fill in? Where can I fill in any blanks here? This is exactly what happened. Nobody's denying that. Well, you could tell me about her assertion that she was chronically sleep-deprived. Yeah, she was planning to be, they were getting married. I mean, yeah, they were getting married. They moved into a new home.

She was, she had other children. She had a two-year-old little boy, Samaria's brother, and she was chronically sleep deprived. He had an alternating schedule that was just bizarre how much it changed because Bill drove bus and his schedule changed. and they had certain days that they took the kids, certain days they didn't. Actually, the schedule for when Samara was with them changed every couple days. Like they had two days this week and two days the next week, and it just rotated. So that's definitely a factor, and that's what they find in a lot of these. Sometimes Bill would take the kids.

Sometimes Brittany would take the kids. Sometimes she'd take one. Sometimes she'd take two. Sometimes she'd have to deal in a lot of these. Sometimes Bill would take the kids. Sometimes Brittany would take the kids. Sometimes she'd take one. Sometimes she'd take two. Sometimes she'd have to deal with all three of them. I mean, it was a tremendous amount. The very next day was her bridal shower, which is reading that Facebook thing that she had. But they called off all that stuff. You know, they called off the wedding.

And so she had a lot on her mind, absolutely. Absolutely. But I was hoping that this wouldn't really go this direction. You know, I kind of said that it was going to go more trying to raise awareness to how these tragedies happen and why they keep happening. Well, let's take that opportunity right now, and you explain, give your message that you want people to hear mr gorgeous well what it's

come down to is that people that are caregivers and parents that have children in in their vehicles and they're taking them to daycare or wherever they're taking them to. They need to, thankfully, finally, the automobile manufacturers are putting these sensors in. But they have to put something in the back of the vehicle, like a cell phone or something that reminds them. So people, there are certain that it's starting to come out more where there are solutions for this to stop happening.

There's some preventative measures in place. But at this time, there really wasn't. And again, people don't think that this can happen. They can't imagine it. We can't let ourselves imagine that we can do this. I hear what you're saying, and I hear that you're saying it was because of a brain malfunction. However, what I don't understand is the fact that the law is that when you make a mistake, even innocently,

due to negligence. Negligence means you don't intend it you don't mean for that to happen that was not what you set out to do but because of negligent behavior a death occurs and in this case a tot died a horrible horrible death that is provided for in the law and that is called involuntary manslaughter. No one is suggesting that Brittany Renee Borges intended to do this that day. The reality is it was a negligent act. She forgot.

That equals involuntary manslaughter. The child is dead. And the penalty for that is jail time. So I think you, sir, instead of being angry at me, need to realize that, well, you sound angry, that people are concerned over a $25 fine when a tot is dead because of negligence. You can't see that?

I am not angry at you. This is a very emotionally charged situation. I'm not angry at you at all. You're doing your job, and you guys are asking me questions, and it does get a little spirited. Okay, I was not one of the jurors on this trial. There were 12 people, 12 peers that didn't know anything about the trial, didn't read anything on Facebook, didn't know any of us. And they found her not guilty of all three of the main charges.

And what I understand, this was quite an education, this whole process, but is, and you're, you're, I think you have a legal background and some of the people in the panel do, that for those charges, there has to be an awareness, a conscious decision. So in other words, for involuntary manslaughter, Brittany had to walk away from that vehicle knowing that she left a child in the vehicle for any of those charges even for neglect you have to know that you walked away and said oh I'm gonna leave the child in here I'm going to run in here for a minute and then you forget the child's in there afterwards that didn't happen. And 12 jurors looked at all of the information on a three-day trial and all the facts and watched the videos, heard the 911 call, and they all, you know, they found her not guilty of those charges. The charge for the, uh, there's like that summary charge that you're referring to

that should have been part of this. That should have been something nailed, I guess. I don't know, but for some reason, the judge said, there's this one last thing the jurors left. And he said, there's one last thing that needs cleared up. And this is a summary charge of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. And, and he said, just basically, please don't even fight it. So the attorney, I didn't like the whole idea of that. I mean, I didn't really know what was going on, but then they said, you know, that the $12 or the $25 was the charge. And I thought, oh my goodness, you know, when that came out in the paper, of course that's going to infuriate people. It would infuriate me if I was, you know, I mean, if I lost a child like that.

Well, Mr. Borges, I want to tell you one thing, and that is I miss my father every single day of my life. He was my soulmate. We did everything together. And if I was in the position that Brittany Renee is in right now, my father would be defending me tooth and nail. I understand where you're coming from completely. I disagree with you, but I understand what you're saying and I understand the defense that you are discussing. And please pass on to your daughter for me that she is a very lucky lady to have a father like you. Well, for one thing, she didn't go to jail,

and you're defending her. And I would say that that is very lucky. Hi, Nancy Grace here. Have you ever Googled yourself, your neighbors, somebody at work, a crush? 57% of Americans admit to keeping an eye on their own online reputation 46 admit to using the internet to look up somebody from their past but google and facebook the tip of the iceberg when it comes to finding personal information

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Find the truth. Nancy truthfinder.com forward slash Nancy. Find the truth. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. The caregiver of a little girl who died in a hot car two years ago will only have to pay a $25 fine. A jury found Brittany Borges from South Williamsport not guilty of all but one charge. Prosecutors had accused her of, among other things, involuntary manslaughter, but jurors only found her guilty of leaving a child unattended in a car. Her punishment is that $25 fine. Williamsport police say Borges forgot to drop the four-year-old off at daycare on a 97-degree summer day and left the girl in the car for hours. You are hearing from WNEP's coverage.

A tiny tot, dead Samaria Matka, after being left in a sweltering SUV for at least six hours, her dad's girlfriend, Brittany Renee Borges, walks scot-free with just a $25 fine. What a child goes through during a hot car death is horrific. I remember investigating and covering such cases where the child, stra in a car seat actually claws at its own face, blood coming down its face, bucking back and forth, trying to get out of the car seat. The stifling heat, there's no air to breathe until the child dies. That's what happened.

That's the reality of what happened. We just heard from Brittany Renee Borges' father, Vic Borges, who glosses over the tot's gruesome death. Blaming his daughter's actions on a, quote, brain malfunction, comparing it to forgetting to get milk and eggs at the grocery store or medical malpractice where a doctor leaves a sponge inside of a patient. Okay, I'm not going along with that at all. Let me understand exactly what happened. Lee Egan joining me, journalist, investigative reporter with CrimeOnline.com. Lee, many, many insiders state that

Brittany Renee Borges reached in and got something out. Okay. The father says that's inaccurate. Tell me what you know, Lee, as to what happened that day, the day Samaria sweltered to death. I'm here. Nancy, early in the morning, Brittany took her toddler son to daycare first. Samaria and her little boy, they went to different daycares for whatever reason. The mother told me it was because she wanted Samaria in the same daycare because it's closer to her own home. But so Brittany brought her boy to his daycare, dropped him off just fine, forgot Samaria and drove straight past her daycare to her employment, which was about five miles away from her home. She backed into a parking lot. So she did have to look behind her to back into this parking lot.

Samaria was in the back seat in a booster seat. Okay, Lee Egan, let me understand. You were saying that Brittany Renee Borges backed in her car that day, so she had to look back. You're also telling me that the baby Samaria was in the back seat. This is an SUV. Was she in the seat directly behind the driver, or was she in the way back, the third seat, the far back by the hatchback. Which seat was she in, Lee, if you know? No, she was directly behind her. I'm just thinking about this, okay? So she's driving, she's backing up.

She either looks back in her rearview mirror or actually turns around and looking back. My kids, my children always sit in the same spot. John David sits directly behind me. And when I turn back and look catty-cornered, I see Lucy. Okay. Sorry about that. I just wanted to understand what you were saying. Okay. Go ahead, Lee. And according to court documents, she didn't look in her window. She actually turned back to back into the parking lot. so she looked backwards to go into the park and you reviewed the court documents yourself lee is that correct yes so lee she backs in looks back then what happens to your understanding and then to my understanding she gets out of the car

she shuts the car and there was also a security camera directly looking right where she parked she shuts the door and she walks away six shuts the door, and she walks away. Six and a half hours later, she walks back to the car. She looks inside, and she sees Samaria laying in the front seat, slumped over with her head resting on the passenger seat. She starts screaming. She runs inside to get help. And then the person that came out to try to help her is,

I believe they were trying to get her out while the girlfriend was on the phone calling 911. Okay, let me backtrack just a moment. Joining me right now in addition to Lee Egan with CrimeOnline.com, Ashley Wilcott, juvenile judge, founder of ChildCrimeWatch.com on Facebook and AshleyWilcott.com. Vincent Hill, private investigator, former cop, author of Playbook to a Murder. Susan Constantine, human behavior expert. Let me go first to you, Ashley Wilcott. You know, I feel bad for the dad. I understand why he's so combative and angry defending his daughter, but this doesn't smell right to me.

I don't like it one darn bit. This case is disturbing to me on so many levels. It is true that nationwide there have been probably 30 plus child deaths from being left in a car. That doesn't excuse it. That doesn't allow it a scientific diagnosis that means it doesn't need to happen. At a minimum, at a minimum, it is child endangerment at a minimum, but really it's negligence. Even if someone literally forgot their child, which is very hard for me to understand how anyone can do that. I do juvenile law. I'm on the bench. I don't understand how you forget your child, but assuming it's true, someone legitimately forgets their

child in times of high stress, et cetera, it is still negligence and child endangerment. It took all I could do to bite my tongue while speaking with her father because it's not her father's fault. He's defending her. I disagree with him 300% and I hate to attack him. But claiming this is a brain malfunction, this woman, Brittany Renee Borges, had no history at all before or since of a brain malfunction. And the examples he gave are simple forgetfulness. There's no phenomena. And saying there's 38 such deaths a year in the U.S.? 325.7 million people, 300 million people live in the U.S. There are 38 such deaths. That's 38 negligent homicides, okay? I'm just having a really hard time trying to connect with this woman, Brittany Renee Borges. Susan Constantine with me, human behavior expert.

Susan, you heard the dad. You know the facts as Lee Egan has laid them out for you. Weigh in. Yeah, you know, three different times, Nancy, you asked him what happened that day. And the first time when he tried to answer it, he says, well, in my mind. So he couldn't answer in her mind or what she told me or what happened that he paused and hesitated several times and never really did answer the questions because he doesn't really know. And then he says, you know, I'm not trying to minimize this. Well, that's exactly what

he was doing. He was minimizing it. So he was banking on the forensic science. That's what felt safe for him because if the forensic science expert said that this is what happened, then that's what's good enough for me. And that relieves his guilt also. But we also know that people that were found not guilty doesn't mean that they're innocent. And just because 12 jurors found her not guilty tells me there wasn't a very good, strong team of experts to be able to provide opposing arguments. Well, here's another issue that I'm trying to figure out. Even if she had a, quote, brain malfunction, i.e. forgot when she got out of the car,

uh, six hours plus passed during that time. Nobody remembers. She never remembers the baby. I mean, for example, this morning, I've been worried all morning. Ashley Wilcott, you know, because the twins have safety patrol it's 27 degrees outside i've thought about their fingers and their head and lucy's bare legs and her darn skort ever since i took them to school no matter how many times i said you need to wear tights no she had to go bare-legged it because she'd rather freeze than have people think she looks weird in tights. Or a hat, for that matter. I even carried them and handed them to her as she was getting out.

No way. No. Not going to happen. And I have thought about that. It was all I could do to wrestle two coats onto her. Now, John David is covered up, you know, like he's wearing a burka. He doesn't mind. He'd wear a blanket over his head.

He couldn't care less. But I've thought about them a hundred times since that happened. Ashley, how do you go six hours and not think, oh, dear Lord in heaven, I left the baby in the car. It wasn't just that one split second. No, I don't know. I honestly, I don't get it. I don't understand it. It doesn't make sense to me.

How can you? I think at some point you say, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, what's happened to my child? I didn't go to the, 10 minutes later, five minutes later, three minutes later, oh my God, I forgot to drop my child. So I think it's, I don't get it. The 28-year-old Brittany Renee Borges parked her SUV at the rear of a downtown business where there was no shade at all, leaving the four-year-old tot buckled into a booster seat in the back. Six and a half hours later, she finds Samaria unconscious on the floor of the SUV. That child had tried to live and get out of that car. She had climbed out of her booster seat to the front seat. Inside the car's interior, the temperature was upwards of 120 degrees.

When they measured Samaria's internal temperature, it was 110 degrees inside her body and that was after she got to the hospital what was it while she was still in the car Vincent Hill private investigator author of playbook to a murder Vincent Hill you're a former cop in a metropolitan area. How can this not result in jail time? Nancy, I think we're all befuddled by that. I mean, because the law is quite clear, an intentional killing resulting from recklessness or negligence. And the fact that she left her four-year-old in the car meets that criteria. And the fact that that four-year-old was at least smart enough to get out of that car seat, to try to get to the front to get some shade.

That tells you what she suffered for for six hours, Nancy. So how this jury came back with this verdict, it befuddles me. Take a listen for just one moment to Dr. Ernie Ward. He's a veterinarian, and he is describing his experience. He sat in a hot car for 30 minutes. Listen to what he endured and this is as it relates to dogs to animals not tiny children 25 minutes it's now oh gosh what is it 113 degrees it's um it's awful uh the only thought that's going through my head right now is I just went out of the car. You know, it's just everything in my body is saying, get out, get out, get out. I can just feel rivulets of sweat just careening down my body.

I don't know if you can tell, but I'm fully drenched now. I have sweat just completely cascading down my face and nose, my lips. You're helpless. You have no control over what's happening. You don't understand what's happening. You just know that your body is getting so overheated that you can be in real danger. I mean, this kills. Straight back to Ashley Wilcott, juvenile judge, founder of Child Crime Watch on Facebook and AshleyWilcott.com. Ashley, there's one little detail that I'd like you and Vincent, Susan, and Lee to weigh in on.

Apparently, Borges told police she had forgotten the children in the past. She had forgotten them in the past. This isn't the first time. And she told cops she was upset that day over an upcoming bridal shower. Really? Here's where I need to weigh in. The father of the children, I can't imagine his heartbreak at losing this child. But she was the caretaker.

You've got to use extra caution in seeking out caregivers and caretakers to watch your children. Good Lord, she's forgotten them before. She's upset and she forgets children in the car. Knowing that she disclosed it's happened before, she should never, never, never have children in her care in her car, period. What about it, Susan Constantine? I was bowled over when I found out she apparently had told cops she had forgotten them before. Yeah, you know, that past behavior predicts future behavior.

So to me, that's telling me that she's got an issue with it, that this is just a ticking time bomb that was going to happen. And now here's the result of it. We have a dead baby. You know, I think that if the jury had known about the previous incidents, Vincent Hill, author of Playbook to a Murderer, and the details of those incidents, there may have been a different outcome. Yeah, absolutely, Nancy. You know, it's one thing to say you had a brain cramp because you can't find your keys. But when you say, oh, I forgot my kids in the car before, had that jury heard that, you're absolutely right.

I think she would have been convicted of involuntary manslaughter. What do we know about what the jury knew to Lee Egan regarding the previous incidents that she herself detailed. A lot of things were not allowed in the trial, such as there are a lot of accusations about child abuse. The mother had called Department of Family and Children's Services before several times. That was thrown out. I don't believe that the incident about her leaving the children in the car before was allowed in. So they were just going based off this incident alone. Okay, let me understand something. I did not realize. Are you saying DFAX had been called?

Yes. Department of Family and Children's Services? What can you tell me about that, Lee? Well, Sarah Fox, that's Samaria's mother, she took several pictures of Samaria, and she did show them to me. And I can't say for sure it's abuse, but she had a bruise across her face. She had some bruising on her legs. And in another photo, she was covered almost head to feet in what looked like flea bites or bug bites. Now, she took all this information to D-Fax, but there wasn't enough yet to do anything, so it was unfounded. Now, Sarah says she was still in the process of trying to pursue all of this when the baby died. So at that point, since there was nothing founded, they wouldn't allow it in the courtroom.

You know, I heard the father lashing out at the Justice for Samaria web page, the Facebook page, and I've looked at it several times, and it refers to, in some of the posts, quote, there have been many incidents that many do not know about that have led up to this tragic event. I wonder, you know, this is your specialty, Ashley Wilcott, if that's what they're talking about, the previous calls to DFAX that were not allowed in. That's what I wonder, too, because, listen, now, I'm sorry, I have all kinds of questions. I have all kinds of issues with this particular set of facts. I wonder, too, if that's what they're discussing, those previous calls to DFAX. Is it related to the fact she left the child in the car directly? No.

Is it circumstantial evidence that she has a history of potentially abusing these children, neglecting these children, and specifically leaving a child in a car which is neglect? Absolutely. Boy, does this case get me. I mean, isn't a life worth more than $25, Susan Constantine? Absolutely. I mean, I would rather have been zero than $25. $25, it's humiliating. I mean, but a life was lost, and the judge applied a $25 fee, a fine. It's just preposterous. No wonder people are protesting the outcome of this trial.

Will there ever be justice for Samaria? Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.