A Kansas father allegedly strapped his toddlers in a boiling car to start his work shift — and his 3-year-old daughter did not survive. Surveillance footage would eventually tell a very different story than the one he gave police.
A Kansas father is facing first-degree murder charges after investigators say he knowingly left his two young children — ages 3 and 1 — trapped inside a sweltering, engine-off vehicle for more than two hours while he worked a shift at his job. His 3-year-old daughter died. His infant son barely survived.
What made the case all the more chilling, authorities say, was what came after: a fabricated story meant to throw investigators off the trail.
“Pence allegedly insisted on starting his shift to get ‘everyone organized’ — and stayed for over two hours.”
The incident occurred on Sept. 3, 2025, near K-10 and Kill Creek Road in De Soto, Kansas. Deputies from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office responded around 5:30 p.m. to find Tyler James Pence sitting in the driver’s seat of a Buick Encore alongside his two young children. Emergency responders performed lifesaving measures on both kids at the scene. The 3-year-old was pronounced dead. The 1-year-old was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and eventually recovered.
The cover story begins to unravel. When Pence called 911, he told the dispatcher he had been driving around with his kids and noticed one of them had stopped breathing — adding that it was “really hot” in the car. He claimed the vehicle’s air conditioning wasn’t working and that the windows had been up while he was driving.
But emergency responders who arrived found the air conditioning running on low with the fan at full power. Even more telling: despite both children suffering severe heat-related injuries, Pence himself was not sweating.
Pence then told investigators he had left home around 4 p.m. to look at apartments and had only been driving for about 20 minutes before things went wrong.
A co-worker told police a completely different story.
What the cameras captured. Surveillance footage at Pence’s workplace confirmed the co-worker’s account. It showed Pence pulling into the parking lot at 2:59 p.m. — with both children visibly buckled into their seats, the windows rolled up, and the ignition off. He then went inside and reportedly refused to leave until he had “gotten everyone organized,” ultimately staying for more than two hours. He walked out at 5:19 p.m. Three minutes later, he dialed 911.
Investigators determined that while outside temperatures hovered near 85°F that afternoon, the sealed car could have become as hot as 130°F inside — a temperature lethal to young children within minutes. Deputies also observed juice and crumbs on the car’s floorboard, suggesting the toddlers had no access to fluids during the entire ordeal, according to local station KFOR.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office described the arrest as the result of a collaborative effort involving the Medical Examiner’s Office, hospital staff, and a thorough investigation. Pence was taken into custody approximately seven months after the incident.
Pence remains in Johnson County Jail. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 9. The case has drawn renewed attention to the dangers of leaving children unattended in hot vehicles — a threat that medical experts say can turn fatal within minutes, even on a moderately warm day.
