Main, left to right: Kirsten Schmitt and Anthony Pedigo (Whitfield Co. Sheriff’s Office). Inset: Grayson Pedigo (GoFundMe).
In Georgia, a 26-year-old mother and a 30-year-old father have been detained following the tragic death of their 22-month-old son. Authorities report that the child was left unsupervised watching television while secured in a car seat, which led to his strangulation. On Monday, Kirsten Schmitt and Anthony Pedigo were arrested, facing charges of second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children in connection with the death of Grayson Pedigo, according to officials.
The Dalton Police Department released a news release stating that officers, along with emergency medical teams, responded around 4 p.m. on June 5 to the family’s home on the 2800 block of Gregory Place, after a medical emergency report. The parents contacted 911, explaining their toddler was “unresponsive in his car seat.”
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders located the boy and immediately transported him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead
During police questioning, Schmitt and Pedigo reportedly admitted it was common practice for them to secure their child in his car seat on the living room floor to watch TV while they were at home.
“Schmitt informed investigators that on June 5th, she was in the living room with Grayson watching TV while Pedigo slept in the bedroom,” the release details. “Schmitt then went to the bedroom to wake Pedigo for his work shift, leaving Grayson unattended. Both reported being in the bedroom for about 30 to 40 minutes.”
The parents said that when they returned to where they had left their son watching TV, they found him unresponsive.
Police said the child’s injuries were “consistent with having the seat belt and buckle around his neck.”
Law enforcement indicated that there were “bruising” and “other marks around the neck,” suggesting the toddler was strangled by the car seat restraints, as per a report from WTVC, an ABC affiliate based in Columbus, Georgia.
When questioned about why arrests were delayed for over three months, Bruce Frazier, communications director for the City of Dalton, clarified to WTVC that an investigation was continuously in progress.
“The police department’s been in consultation with our district attorney’s office throughout the entire process, and last week, specifically on Friday, they obtained warrants for the arrest of these parents,” he told the station. “It’s a sad case, and obviously the goal is to for there to be justice done for the child.”
A GoFundMe page created by the victim’s grandmother —which was taken down after the couple’s arrest — said that Anthony Pedigo had been working two jobs so that his wife could stay home to care for their elder son, who lives with spina bifida and is paralyzed from the waist down, The Georgia Gazette reported.
Anthony Pedigo and Schmitt are currently being held in the Whitfield County Jail without bond, records show. It was not immediately clear when the duo was scheduled to appear in court.
