Toddler's Hot Car Death: Annandale Man Pleads Guilty

An Annandale man accused of leaving a 2-year-old girl in a hot carApril 20 in Annandale, resulting in her death, pleaded guilty Sept. 20 to involuntary manslaughter, felony child abuse and neglect, according to a report by NBC-4.

All but six months of a five-year prison term was suspended, allowing Daiquan Fields, 32, to go free Sept. 27, NBC-4 reported. Fields is on supervised probation barred from living with the victim's mother, must find full-time work and must stay away from drugs and alcohol, the report said. In addition, he was ordered to complete a parenting class, pay court costs and get a mental health evaluation. He is not permitted to drive.

Fields was charged in June with felony child neglect and involuntary manslaughter after police say he unwittingly left the child in the car April 20 while relaxing in his home in Annandale.

The child reportedly wasn't discovered until the man and his girlfriend -- the girl's mother -- discovered her in the backseat after arriving later that day at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City in Arlington. The girl had been suffering in the heat for hours, and was pronounced dead at Virginia Hospital Center.

Court documents allege that Fields had gotten into a routine of dropping off the 2-year-old and her older siblings, who are 10 and 15 years old. Fields said that he normally dropped the 2-year-old with a babysitter before taking the two older children to school, but since they were running late that day, he dropped off the oldest child first and then the 10-year-old, and ultimately forgot about the 2-year-old, according to an NBC Washington report.

Fields stayed at home all day before leaving late in the afternoon to pick up the mother, who worked at the mall in Pentagon City, which is when they found the toddler in the backseat. Fields called 911, but emergency first responders could not revive the girl.

PHOTO of Daiquan Fields courtesy of Arlington County Police