
An attorney requested murder charges be dropped for a mother who left her 1-year-old child in a hot car at a Gwinnett County hospital. GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. – A defense attorney demands second-degree murder charges be dropped against a 29-year-old mother who mistakenly left her 1-year-old son in a hot car outside a Gwinnett County hospital. Defense attorney Tom Ford is asking prosecutors to drop second-degree murder charges against 29-year-old Deja Coleman. Coleman is accused in the hot car death of her 1-year-old son, Daniel, outside Northside Hospital in Gwinnett County. Coleman believed she dropped all three of her children off at day care before driving to work. Ford explained that his client was sleep-deprived and overwhelmed with responsibilities when the fatal error occurred. Ford contends that Coleman was living in an abuse shelter and should be recognized as a victim of domestic violence rather than prosecuted. "We've labeled a grieving mother a murderer," Ford said. "I would submit there's no charges at all, because to be tired is not a crime". The attorney pointed to neurological factors, explaining that extreme fatigue forces the brain to rely on autopilot. "None of us understand what autopilot, the basic angle, that's what takes over," Ford said. "It's your autopilot portion of your brain. The prefrontal cortex makes your decisions in the future. It helps you make decisions, we don't know. But that's what the scientists will tell us." Prosecutors have not…
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