[Music] You kids have been outside in a hot car for about an hour. The door open. Monday, May 22nd, 2023, Delplain, Illinois. The North Main Fire Protection District was dispatched for a welfare check at the Park Colony apartment complex in the 9100 block of Lincoln Drive, Delane around 12:35 p.m. Apparently, six children were found alone inside of a van in a parking lot. The scene was clearly distressing, and there was growing concern for the children's well-being. But where were the parents and who was responsible? I'm Tyler and this is your daily dose of crime. Do I ran the place in my party program and it's not coming up? And there's six kids in this party. Been in it for over an hour. Hey, how are you? How you kids doing? Is your mom and dad here somewhere? Did they tell you where they going? 239. He went in in one of the building. He what told you that's another ass. Your dad did. What's your dad's name? He went into that building. Does anybody live here that you know? Uncle, huh? You don't live here? Upon arrival, officers were informed by the property manager that a tenant had reported a van parked in the parking lot with six children inside. The manager said, "All appearing to be under the age of seven and an infant. They had no food or water and were crying hysterically inside of the locked vehicle. The manager who made the call to authorities said the kids had likely been in the parking lot for at least an hour. But could authorities track down whoever had left them there? What's your dad's name? Huh? What's your dad's name? What's your dad's name? What was that? You got to say Johnny. Harris. Johnny Hers. That's not open. Are you guys okay? Yeah, it's not them. They've been throwing down water. There's a phone. Isn't that a phone right there? Are you guys okay? Is that a cell phone? Is that your phone? Does it work? It doesn't work. Can you make a call? 37 County. It's uh six kids in the vehicle. I need to try. This one works. Call somebody. Sergeant, you said the kids saying their dad went in that in there in this building. She's got a phone and look, it says dad. Call them, please. Hi. I don't know if it works. You guys waiting for D to come out? Yeah. You don't live here? Where you guys live? Um, how do you turn airplane mode off? You guys live in turn airplane mode off? You guys live in the city? Oh, let me see. Okay. I don't know how to work. I'm not that good with phone. So, settings, right? Settings. You know how to work an Android? That guy in the pink shirt is the one who's been watching this whole thing. He's the one who called the 13 counter. Call a number for me. This is allegedly the dad in the he didn't call me then I ran over 60741. So then I came over and he didn't want to call. So I called. I said, "How long have you been here?" He goes, "An hour." And those people have been listening to him scream for an hour or two. The kids, according to the oldest child, their father was somewhere inside the apartment complex, but they didn't live there. As officers continued questioning and noted the children's statements, the property manager noticed a cell phone left inside the vehicle. That phone may be the key to identifying the children's father. It would now be up to officers to locate the man and figure out what was really going on. Hello. Hey. You threw me off with that sir. You're usually supposed to be Hey, you or uh how you doing? All right, sir. How are you doing? I'm good. Uh you she you look like you're good. Yeah, I'm doing really well. Thank God. Yes, sir. cuz you told me that you saw you heard the kids crying or you saw them. Yeah. Did you see anybody get out of the car? No, no, no. They were already in the car. I came out here. Listen, I had enough time to to sand all of this and then paint it. So, I'm I'm I'm guessing it was an hour at least. Now, that little kid in the poor car seat, I don't know. He He He worries me because, you know, little kids like that, they got to go back. What are these kids an hour? You can't leave kids in the car without even even with the window down. No, you know. Yeah, you know, uh I know I went through that. They told me that this guy's name is Johnny. That's what the kids say. Johnny Burds. I don't know. I told him, "Hey, there's nobody in the mailbox in there." And luckily, they were able to The kids are saying they don't live here. So, no, no, obviously. It's not unusual that people come in here and visit people in the complex. So, about an hour ago, you were working on your Oh, I had to. Look at you had this and then you you heard them crying the whole time. That's it. Well, not the whole time. Maybe you But then you It was a gradual a gradual completely kind of like this and I'm lucky, you know. Maybe I can still hear that. You know, I'm lucky that he I can hear it. But yeah, that I felt bad. You know, come on. They're kids and there's five. Who? Again, I don't know who does that. I don't want Well, that's my problem. See, I judge people and that's a sin. Let the Lord do his work. For some reason, this happened. So, can I get your name? Uh-oh. You're not going to arrest me, sir? No, no, no, no. This I'm I'm legal. This is for the report. I'm legal, sir. No, no. It's not even Come on. See that? I made you laugh. It was worth it right there. What are you going to do without your sense of humor, sir? That's true. Very true. You need those two things: humor and hope. Without that, you ain't got nothing. While speaking to one of the witnesses, authorities confirmed that the father had left all six of his children locked inside the van for over an hour under the hot sun. Only two windows were cracked open, as if that would have made a real difference. It wouldn't take long for officers to track the man down and make him aware of just how serious his actions were. But would he even grasp the weight of what he had done? He didn't see the guy come out of the car. He just heard the the kids crying next to us. 1979 6800. I don't know that 91. SH police. Hey, how's it going? Do you have anybody visiting you today? There's six kids out in the car. Okay. You know anything about that? Yeah. Whose kids are those? Mine. My I think so we're here. What's your name? John. Come on out here. Your kids are unattended. They were crying for hours. No, my um wife, she There's nobody in the car but the kids. No, I'm saying my wife, she uh stepped away. She what? You can't leave the kids unattended like that, though. There's no hour, man. Your kids are been outside in a hot car for about an hour. Step outside, please. What's your name? Johnny. What's your last name? Hearn. Hearn. H R N S H E R N. Just add this name in the chat. Johnny Robert over here. Um cleaning uh somebody's house. Okay. To the rest of the money for my kids. Okay, I get that. But you know that six kids in a car left unattended. You can't do that, man. Especially when it's hot outside. It's 80° outside. Get his ID. I didn't want to um bring them inside because it's like I'm doing a job, per se. somebody doing a job. I don't know if he will allow the kids to come in. I asked them if he didn't give me an apple. But according to a lot of these neighbors, these kids have been out here for an hour with nothing to drink in the car. When the father identified as Johnny Hearns, was located in one of the apartments in the complex. Officers questioned him about his children. Hearns admitted they were in the van, but quickly shifted the blame, claiming that his wife had left them there and then walked away. Something didn't add up. The children had never mentioned their mother, and all they said was that they were waiting for their father, who was inside the building. Officers now had to get to the bottom of what had really happened. But Hearns wasn't exactly eager to cooperate. What are you guys doing? We got to take them over to the hospital and get them checked out. They've been in this car for an hour. But putting a putting the kid in a car, it's like a hot box. Yeah. We got to get them evaluated. Okay. Okay. as their father. You would want them evaluated, right? Just to make sure that they're good. Yeah. Okay. So, what we're going to do is we're going to have them taken over to the hospital. We're going to drive you over there. You're going to leave the car here. We're going to have some more questions for you when we get over there. Okay. Okay. I understand you're trying to work. You're trying to do some good for your family to get some money, but we can't leave six kids unattended in a car. Somebody wanted to come by here and scoop this car up, which they quite frequently do. Your kids will be kidnapped. You want your kids? No. Okay, just do you said your wife was here? You said your wife was over here. Um, yeah. She uh stepped away. She went to the store or whatever. I thought she would be back by now. I dropped her off there and came here. But I probably went to go get her in about like 10 minutes. What kind of work were you doing? What kind of work were you doing? Um, just cleaning up. Um it's it's this uh app called homeoglow. So it's like you a bunch of customers that pop on your on dashboard. You pick depending on your schedule or whatever it be and then they give you like maybe $30, $60, $100 depending on how many hours that they need. Home glow. Yeah. Home a glow. So, it depends on how many hours that they um need you for. You show up to their location, you clean their house, whatever they need you to clean, and then you go about your day and get paid from the job. You get paid the same day, okay? And you go about your uh go about your day to go wherever else. So, I had at least 10 20 minutes, okay? And I was going to just No, they were out here for an hour. Yeah, like I said, they had food. They had They had food. They had something to drink. Yeah, but it's I mean, the sun's pointing right out the car. They were crying. People heard them crying. And when his kids involved, we got to we have to get them checked out. Yeah, I understand. I understand. It's for your own good, too. You're okay to stay. He's going to take you to the hospital. Stay clear. You should be good to go. Okay. Yeah, I understand. Officers informed Hearns that his children would be taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital to make sure they were okay. Once again, they stressed just how dangerous and alarming the situation had been. Hearns eventually accepted responsibility for what he had done and was charged with six misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and released on his own recgnizance. According to authorities, he faces potential jail time or probation depending on the circumstances of his prior