Trial to start December 14 for cop who left infant daughter in car

The policeman whose infant daughter died after being locked in his car at the Black River Police Station last January has until December 14 to settle his legal representation before his manslaughter trial begins in the St Elizabeth Circuit Court.

Detective Sergeant Sheldon Dobson's bail was extended when he made his first appearance before the circuit court's presiding judge Justice Vaughn Smith on Thursday.

He had been represented in the St Elizabeth Parish Court by attorney Thomas Levine up to his committal hearings on January 24 and February 28.

It is alleged that on January 18, 2022, Dobson was expected to take his daughter to daycare, but forgot to do so and went to work at the Black River Police Station at 8 a.m., leaving the child in his car.

The infant was found unconscious in the car hours later, at 4 p.m., and was rushed to the Black River Hospital where she was subsequently pronounced dead.

The child's parents are both employed to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

Immediately following the child's death, relatives and friends of the family declared their support for the parents, while insisting that Dobson would not have deliberately left his daughter in the car.

In February 2022, one month after the tragedy took place, a file was sent by the JCF to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a ruling on whether Dobson should be charged in relation to the child's death.

That ruling came in June 2022, when the DPP declared that Dobson should be charged.

Dobson's case first came before the St Elizabeth Parish Court in Santa Cruz on August 15, where he was granted bail in the sum of $750,000 with surety.

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