NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) –
We are learning more about the deaths of two children in Smyrna last week as officials have released the 911 call soon after their mother discovered their bodies.
While Savanna Harper, 2, and Daniel Harper, 3, were left in a hot car in the driveway of the family's home in Smyrna last Thursday and later died, police said their mother was asleep.
“My kids got outside and they got in my car, and I think they're both dead now,” Samantha Harper is overheard saying to emergency dispatch.
In the phone call, Harper doesn't know how long her children had been in the hot car.
Dispatcher: You're their mother?Harper: yes I'm their mother. (crying)Dispatcher: How long have they been in the car?Harper: I don't know. Dispatcher: do you think they passed away?Harper: (loud breathing)Dispatcher: do you think they are? do you want to start CPR?Harper: They passed away.
According to police, Harper told investigators she put the toddlers in the car and went back inside the home and fell asleep. But she tells a much different story on the 911 call.
Dispatcher: When's the last time you've seen them?Harper: I want to say it was between 11 and 12. Dispatcher: 11 and 12 today?Harper: yes! Dispatcher: are you sure about that? Harper: What time is it now? Dispatcher: It's 3:30.
Just a few moments later, you can hear sirens on the way, and Harper asks a police officer if the officer can help her children.
Officer: How long they been in this car?Harper: I don't know! They took a nap, I took a nap, and I guess I must've been asleep for some time! I don't know how they got out.
But by then, it was too late. The children were dead, likely from heat stroke, and now Harper is charged with their deaths.
She remains jailed in Rutherford County with especially aggravated child abuse.
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