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Maricopa County Sheriff's Office booking photo of Ashly Duchene. 22, who was arrested after her 17-month-old son was found dead in her hot, stuffy car following her seven-hour shift as a Hooters waitress in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)
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Hourly Update

Mother of baby found dead in car is arrested (updated)

Felt parental responsibility encroached on her freedom
By TERRY TANG
Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.31.2007
PHOENIX - A woman whose 17-month-old son died in her hot, stuffy car while she worked a seven-hour shift as a waitress told friends and family she was unhappy about being a mother, police said Wednesday.
People close to Ashly Duchene, 22, told investigators that the mother made statements over the past few weeks that she thought parental responsibilities encroached on her freedom.
"Caring for a child was not a top priority. It may or may not have played a role (in her son's death)," police Sgt. Joel Tranter said.
Duchene was booked into Maricopa County jail on a felony count of negligent homicide. But authorities do not believe Duchene intentionally left the boy in the car.
"At this point, we have not substantiated anything that shows she deliberately left the child in car," Tranter said. "Otherwise it would be a regular homicide. We don't believe that's the case."
Duchene usually dropped the boy off at a day-care center on her way to work, but for unknown reasons failed to do so Tuesday, Tranter said.
Instead, she left her son, Ryan Gallagher, in the car when she arrived at the north Phoenix Hooters restaurant at about 10 a.m., police said. When she returned after her shift at nearly 5 p.m., he was dead.
Authorities said Duchene was hysterical and immediately summoned for help.
Efforts to revive the boy by witnesses, officers and firefighters were unsuccessful. Temperatures hit nearly 90 degrees Tuesday, but it would have been more than 100 degrees inside the car, Tranter said.
Officials believe the boy, who was in a car seat, was invisible to people going in and out of the restaurant and a nearby car wash because the car has tinted windows.
Duchene told police she walked to her car, unlocked the driver's door, sat in the vehicle and immediately realized she had forgotten she had left Ryan in the back seat.
Duchene said the boy had recently spent a few weeks out of town with his grandfather and that she had gotten out of the habit of dropping him off before work, according to a Maricopa County Superior Court document released Wednesday.
One factor that led to the negligence charge was that Duchene said she remembered glancing at her son in the rearview mirror on her way to work that same day, and that Ryan "was smiling at her and happy," according to the document, a probable cause statement.
The document said Duchene told investigators that she also forgot Ryan was in her car the day before he died, but remembered him when she arrived at work.
Later that same day, Duchene complained to the boy's father, Clayton Gallagher, that she "couldn't do it anymore" and that all Ryan did was cry. When Gallagher offered to take Ryan, Duchene declined, saying she needed to see her son every day.
The document also said Duchene had once attempted suicide.
A request to interview Duchene was not immediately answered by police.
The restaurant was closed Wednesday and was holding counseling sessions for employees.
"Our company is deeply saddened by this terrible tragedy," said Melanie Gulmetti, a regional marketing manager for Hooters. "Our thoughts are with the mother and her family. We are cooperating fully with authorities."
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