Monday, July 29, 2019

Twins Die in Car in New York

Phoenix Rodriguez and Luna Rodriguez


Juan Rodriguez, 39, left his infant twin son and daughter, in his car, went into work for 8 hours and found them deceased from the heat. 

The articles written thus far have sporadic quotes only, yet with the type of "excited utterance" reports, we are given insight into this horror. 

Rodriquez has been arrested, charged and is out on bail. 

His account is that he dropped off the older child at one day care center, and forgot to drop off the twins at their day care center. 

Rodriguez told police he didn’t realize they were still in the back seat when he parked at the Bronx hospital where he’s a social worker, according to court papers. For clarity, the quotes from the subject are in bold type italics. This will differentiate 

Eight hours later, the twins, Luna and Phoenix, registered an internal temperature of 108 degrees when coroners examined their bodies in their car seats.

“I assumed I dropped them off at day care before I went to work,” Rodriguez told cops at the scene, according to the criminal complaint against him.

I blanked out!” he cried.
“My babies are dead! I killed my babies!”



“He carried on with his day,” Assistant District Attorney Jaime Breslin told the judge.
He forgot his children in the seats.

More details from media, which are influential upon the reader: 

The mother had come to court wearing all black, and with the couple’s surviving child, a 4-year-old boy, in tow.
The dad had dropped the boy off at a different day care before forgetting the twin babies, officials said.
The mom held the boy on her lap as she waited in a second-floor holding area for the arraignment to begin. With her were some two dozen family members and friends.
At one point, the mom broke into loud, hysterical sobs as she embraced a female relative.
At another point, Rodriguez’s mother, Cathelina Valerio, cried out, “Mis nietos! Mis nietos!” — my grandchildren — as she hugged a male family member.
“Do you know what I’m scared of?” she told The Post. “When he gets out, he can’t handle it. He’s going to need help.”



Juan Rodriguez with his twins, Luna and Phoenix


It was a horrific double death — a baby brother and sister, side by side and helpless, as the temperature in the parked vehicle spiked.

It was also a tragedy made inexplicable by Rodriguez’s reputation as a caring father.
How could a dad whose social media is crammed with photos of him snuggling with Luna and Phoenix — and who neighbors universally describe as loving and attentive — have forgotten his twin treasures, all day, in the back seat of his car?

This was just a horrible mistake,” neighbor Tony Caterino, 45, said of Rodriguez. “That one time you make a mistake, and you have to live with it for the rest of your life.

On Friday morning, Rodriguez had driven to work, as usual, from his home in New City, a middle-class, heavily wooded suburb an hour’s drive north of the city.
Video shows it was 8:22 a.m. when he parked in the hospital parking lot, police sources said.
The video shows him returning at one minute before 4 p.m.
Rodriguez started the car and drove north toward home — only to pull over less than 10 minutes later, while still in The Bronx, on Kingsbridge Terrace.
“I left them in the car!” he began screaming.



Juan Rodriguez car




Analysis 


“I left them in the car!"

“I assumed I dropped them off at day care before I went to work."

I blanked out!” 

“My babies are dead! I killed my babies!”


We are given insight in spite of the short, choppy nature of the statements. It is not known the order, though "I left them in the car" is reportedly what he screamed to police upon their arrival. This may have been first, which is congruent with processing. 


“I left them in the car!"

Note he begins with the pronoun "I" (strong psychological presence) and uses a very short sentence. Shorter sentences (not broken sentences) often indicate reliability when pronouns are not omitted. 

Note next, he is telling the truth. He is not making any claim to the contrary. 

He uses no qualifiers. 

Context: He sees them, his children, deceased.  

His first reaction is to blame self for the loss. 

Now come explanations of how/why such a thing should happen. Since the event is most unnatural (unexpected), the "reason why" is actually expected: 

“I assumed I dropped them off at day care before I went to work."

Here is another strong statement, beginning with the pronoun "I" in the expected response to the question that does not need asking. 

Objection:  The word "assumed" is additional and unnecessary. 

Answer:  Not true---in context, it is necessary and it is expected. He is visibly looking at his deceased children.  To say "I dropped them off at day care" would be a direct fabrication of reality. 

Did you notice that he did not "leave" his children?  In his verbalized perception of reality, he "went" to work. Had he "left" them, we would then explore for  missing information. This may, as he processes his guilt, enter his language as one who "failed" or "abandoned" the children to their fate. 


I blanked out!” 

Again, short and with the pronoun "I" indicating (with the other statements considered) that he is telling the truth--that is, he believes his own language and is not attempted to deceive either directly or by deflection.  Who "blanked" out?  He did. 

He blanked out.  

He did not blame work pressure, traffic, medication, mental illness (which may come into play later) in this report of his 'excited utterance' to police responders. No protests are reported,. 

“My babies are dead! I killed my babies!”

This statement reported by police is particularly of interest to us. 

It indicates both his priority and his personal responsibility:

"My babies are dead" shows that they, over himself, are his priority.  This is vastly different from the parents of Madeleine McCann who showed priority, from the beginning, of their own survival and avoidance of consequence. 

"I killed my babies" is to take responsibility.  In Statement Analysis, we note the difference between those who state that they are taking responsibility (often manipulative) versus those who actually do----in the verbalized perception of reality. 

Analysis Conclusion 

He believes his own words. He is not attempting to deceive police. 

Innocent parents in such cases will not only take responsibility, but will, over time, take more responsibility than can be assigned to them.  

They will, likely for the rest of their lives, ask and tell themselves many "what ifs" in life. 

One heart broken father of a murdered college aged daughter:

'If I had not taken the job  and moved here ten years ago, my daughter would still be alive...' blaming self through much introspection.  

         This is the opposite of what guilty parents do. 

See Patsy Ramsey's 911 call and her 'excited utterance' for her priority.  It was not to locate Jonbenet. 

Juan Rodriguez did not intentionally kill his children. 

Behavioral analysis ("he carried on with his day") will consider testimony from his wife, family and neighbors, is likely to be also suggest lack of intention. 

If you wish to study deception detection, please visit Hyatt Analysis Services

Please peruse the blog as well as youtube for examples and further detail on the "Complete Statement Analysis Course." 

We offer at training in your home, at your own pace, as well as seminars for law enforcement, business, private sector and others seeking to learn to discern between truth and falsehood. 


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have really felt bad for this father since he was immediately charged with manslaughter, even though there was reportedly no use of drugs or alcohol, no prior history of neglect, he had always been by all accounts a loving dad.It was a terrible, tragic accident, borne out by SA.
Since he already has to live with himself, and he has other children to support, I am not sure why LE was so quick to charge him in this case.
RIP beautiful babies.

Anonymous said...

I hope Juan Rodriguez (and prosecutors) read this analysis, that it helps him in some way, that charges will be dropped, that he survives this and forgives himself. He must be in unspeakable pain.

Autumn

Mike Dammann said...

"I killed my babies"
He didn't say "I murdered" or "I ACCIDENTALLY killed". He keeps it short and to the point. His actions caused their death. Highly reliable.

Alissa said...

This is why children should never be left in the care of a man. They do not have that natural “bond” and will forget all about the child.

unwavering joy said...

Are you serious? If that's the case, then do you explain the cases where it was a mother who caused the death of her baby/child because she forgot them in a hot car?

Maria said...

How is it at all possible to forget that your children is in your car and just leave them for 8 hours? It dosen't make any sense. po

Shannon In CA said...

Except for the women who have. You know, totally agree...except for those women who have. I mean...come on. Are you seriously suggesting men don’t bond with their children?!?

Alissa said...

Shannon from CA,

Men do not carry baby in the womb, they do not breastfeed, they do not have that “bond”. Men can follow a one-step direction like “Put cookie on shelf”. The Dad in this case was given a 3-step direction (drop off kids at TWO DIFFERENT day cares and then go to work). Men are “in the moment” like animals they have simple thiughts like food, sleep, sex, etc They live as the animals. Do you see male animals nurturing their young? No. The “bond” is not an intimate bond. They are simple creatures by and by. Woe to those who give a man 3-step directions.

Anonymous said...

I have as well. I am so sick for this family.

Hope

rob said...

If people are so easy to forget their kids of all things, then they need to make sure it doesn't happen. Put a sticky note on your steering wheel, or the drivers side window. Put your purse, lunch, coat or God forbid your phone, ain't nobody going to forget that.

Statement Analysis Blog said...

I don't understand and cannot explain how he forgot his children. Perhaps this will come out.

I know, through the lens of analysis, that he believes his own words; he is not attempting to deceive.

Peter

Danny G said...

Peter is correct.

A possible explanation is that he was light-headed, confused, disoriented from the heat & humidity.

Hey Jude said...

Maybe the babies fell to sleep in rear facing baby seats and his mind wandered, so he neither heard or saw them when he exited the car. At ten months, babies are still in rear facing seats in UK - don’t know US law on car seats.

Nadine Lumley said...

Book:  Why men don't listen and women can't read maps

https://www.amazon.ca/Dont-Listen-Women-Cant-Read/dp/0767907639 👍👦👼

.

Anonymous said...

My husband works for a car company and they now have cars that will alert the driver to look into the backseat for children when children are detected to be in the back as you are exiting the car. Hopefully this will save lives. So tragic. I pray for all involved. Kas

happyuk said...

Truthful statements from a heartbroken dad who at no point tries to blame anyone but himself.

It may be a symptom of the kind of life many of us have, especially in big crowded cities where everything is busy busy busy - get up early, drop kids off, get to work on time, do your stint, get back, pick up kids, maybe do a shop in between, social events etc etc.