Jury to resume deliberations Monday in case of boy who died in hot SUV

By Dave Toplikar

Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 | 4:54 p.m.

A Clark County jury will continue deliberating Monday in the trial of Stanley and Colleen Rimer, who are charged in the death of their 4-year-old son, Jason, who died of heat stress after being left in the family’s SUV in June 2008.

After deliberating all day Friday, the jurors told Judge Douglas Herndon they would break for the weekend and return at 10 a.m. Monday to continue.

The case went to the jury Thursday after nearly two weeks of testimony.

The Rimers are on trial for not only the second-degree murder of their son, but also for multiple counts of child abuse, neglect and endangerment involving Jason and their other children.

During the two-week trial, jurors have heard from several of the Rimers’ eight children, from Child Protective Services investigators and a church caregiver about the conditions at the home and the hygiene of the children.

Police said Jason’s body was found June 8, 2008, after 17 hours of being left in the vehicle, where he was strapped in his seat after his mother had driven him and several other members of the family home from church.

Both of the Rimers have said they were ill that day and were staying in their bedroom. They said they had thought one of the other children had taken Jason out of the vehicle. Jason had myotonic dystrophy and was unable to get out of the seat himself.

According to testimony, the temperature inside the locked car could have climbed to 130 degrees or more. Prosecutors told the jury the boy basically "baked to death" in the hot SUV.

During the trial, prosecutors tried to demonstrate that the Rimers had a history of neglect and abuse of their eight children, which led to the tragedy of Jason being left in the vehicle.