Dad charged after baby dies in hot car; Police suspect he smoked pot

PHOENIX – Police say a father whose infant son died after being left in a parked car in the Phoenix summertime heat is suspected of smoking marijuana at the time.

Sgt. Tommy Thompson said late Thursday that 31-year-old Daniel Bryant Gray was being booked into jail, charged with manslaughter and child abuse.

Police said earlier that three-month-old Jamison Gray died after his father had gone to a sports bar where he works as a kitchen manager at about noon Wednesday to check on business.

Outside temperatures were about 38 degrees, but interior car temperatures are frequently much higher.

At first police said the father was distracted and forgot about the boy, but Thompson says they later came to suspect he was smoking pot with a work companion during the time his son was in the vehicle.