A mother has been sentenced to seven years in prison for the death of her three-year-old daughter who was left alone in a hot car for over five hours in November 2020. Laura Rose Peverill, 39, of Townsville, Queensland, Australia could see parole in less than two years.
On the day of the incident, the internal car temperature rose to 51.5 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit). This extreme heat led to Rylee Rose Black suffering from heat stroke. By the time she was discovered, her body temperature had reached a dangerous 41 degrees Celsius (about 106 degrees Fahrenheit).
The events leading to this tragedy began after Peverill dropped off her three other daughters at school around 9:50 am. She and her boyfriend, Aaron Hill, then went back to their residence. On their way, the two had a disagreement in the car during which Rylee fell asleep in her booster seat. Upon arriving home, the car was parked in a driveway without shade. The couple, overlooking the sleeping child in the back seat, went inside to view episodes of the Netflix show “Shameless.”
It wasn’t until later that day, when Peverill left to retrieve her other children from school, that she found Rylee, unresponsive and covered in vomit. The young girl was immediately taken to a hospital, but she did not survive.
Peter Black, Rylee’s father, shared his profound grief over the loss of his daughter. During her funeral service, he sang “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to Rylee, expressing his sorrow for not being there to protect her.
In the court proceedings, defense attorney Victoria Trafford-Walker pointed out Peverill’s history with mental health and alcohol-related challenges. Trafford-Walker further noted that on the day of the incident, Peverill was managing the stress associated with moving in with Hill, her boyfriend at the time.