A 43-year-old father in Kansas is accused of leaving his two young children inside a sweltering vehicle for more than two hours while he went into work, before allegedly fabricating a story about looking for apartments to cover his tracks.
Tyler James Pence was taken into custody last month and charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated endangerment of a child resulting in bodily harm, records show. His arrest came about seven months after the September 2025 incident left his 3-year-old daughter dead and his 1-year-old son severely injured, court records show.
According to a news release from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation began on Sept. 3, 2025, at approximately 5:30 p.m. near K-10 and Kill Creek Road in De Soto. Deputies arrived to find Pence and his two children inside a vehicle. While lifesaving measures were performed on both children at the scene, the 3-year-old was pronounced dead. The 1-year-old was transported to a local hospital in critical condition but eventually recovered…