A woman has been acquitted in the death of a 4-year-old girl who central Pennsylvania prosecutors say was left for hours in a hot sport utility vehicle.
Jurors deliberated for about three hours Friday before acquitting 30-year-old Brittany Borgess of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and recklessly endangering.
Lycoming County Senior Judge Dudley Anderson found her guilty of the summary charge of leaving a child unattended in a car and fined her $25.
Prosecutors said Samaria Motyka was left for 61/2 hours in the SUV with the windows closed on a mid-July day in 2016 in which the temperature in Williamsport hit 97.
Defense attorney Peter Campana called his client's actions that day an "autopilot mistake." He told jurors in his closing argument that Borgess "didn't want this to happen."
