- July 12, 2025
A 33-year-old Ormond Beach man who left his 18-month-old son inside his truck for three hours while he got a haircut and went to a local bar earlier this month was arrested on aggravated manslaughter and child neglect charges on Thursday, June 19.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office reports that Scott Allen Gardner called 911 on June 6 at about 2:45 p.m. to report that his son, Sebastian, was not breathing. Ormond Beach Police responded to the residence of Gardner's mother on Standing Drive, and the responding officer attempted to perform CPR, but according to Gardner's arrest report, "was unable to due to the child's jaw being in a rigid state and unable to move," indicating rigor mortis, or the stiffening of muscles and joints after death, had set in.
"My hope for him (Gardner) is every night when he closes his eyes and every morning when he opens his eyes, his son Sebastian sits there and says, 'Dad, why did you do this to me?'" Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said during a news conference on Friday, June 20. "Because there is no reason for this little boy to be dead."
Gardner told police that Sebastian had a low-grade fever earlier that day, but that they had eaten lunch, played and laugh. He said they had been driving to the park when he noticed something was wrong, and he reached back and "started slapping him in the face," the report states. Gardner claimed the child opened his eyes after he attempted to perform CPR.
Gardner's mother told police that her son had show up with Sebastian and told them he wasn't breathing. Her boyfriend, who was at the home, tried to perform CPR but couldn't open the boy's mouth, and noted his skin was "hot."
Sebastian was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. An emergency room doctor noted that he had likely been dead for over an hour and a nurse estimated that his body temperature was likely at 111 degrees when police first arrived.
On June 9, detectives learned that Gardner had gotten a hair cut at Classic Cuts at around 11:30 a.m. and stopped at Hanky Panky's Lounge afterward around noon while Sebastian was under his care on June 6. The day's temperature was about 90 degrees.
Surveillance footage showed Gardner's vehicle traveling south on Ocean Shore Boulevard, away from Hanky Panky's, at 2:43 p.m.
Gardner admitted to detectives that he had left Sebastian in his truck during both stops, saying the windows had been rolled down and he had a battery-operated fan pointed in the child's direction.
A medical examiner determined Sebastian died of hyperthermia.
During the news conference, Ormond Beach Police Chief Jesse Godfrey extended his department's condolences to the family. This is one of the worst kind of call law enforcement responds to, and Godfrey said mental health resources are being provided to his officers.
"When a child's life is lost like this, there has to be accountability, and that's what's happening right now," Godfrey said.
There are instances where parents forget their kids in the backseat, Chitwood said. This was intentional.
"Anybody with a lick of common sense would say, 'Why would I leave my child in the car while I get my hair cut and then go drinking with a little mini-fan blowing on them and think that that somehow is going to be a good thing," he said.
