Tulsa Man Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison For Hot-Car Death Of 2 Children

A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Tulsa man to four years in prison after his children died in his hot pickup last summer.

Monday, November 8th 2021, 6:24 pm

By: News On 6

A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Tulsa man to four years in prison after his children died in his hot pickup last summer.

Prosecutors said Dustin Dennis was high on cocaine, then slept for four hours while his kids were trapped in his truck.

Cheyenne Trent told the court that in her opinion, Dustin Dennis “should spend a year behind bars for every year” he took from their children but said, "even that wouldn't be justice."

In her emotional victim impact statement to the court, Trent shared the pain she has been living with for more than a year.

She read from her handwritten notes, saying, "I know if love could have saved them, they would have lived forever."

Federal prosecutors said last summer, Dennis fell asleep after he was high on cocaine, and his 3-year-old son Ryan and 4-year-old daughter Teagan got into his pickup truck, where they died.

Prosecutors said the children were trapped inside the truck for four hours, on a 90 degree summer day, while Dennis slept.

Cheyenne told the court, "The only comfort I have is that they didn't die alone, they had each other. But I can't help but wonder did they scream for me? Did they scream for help?"

After Dennis was charged in federal court, Trent opened up about what she had been going through.

"I can't forgive somebody for that - it's something that's unforgivable,” she told News On 6 in March.

Trent is raising her other young children, who are the victims’ siblings.

"I don't think he realizes what he's done,” she said. “It's affected our entire lives it's changed everything."

The defense attorney asked the judge to take into consideration that Dennis suffers from trauma after serving in the military, doing two deployments to Iraq.

Dennis himself said a few words to the court, saying he is, "going to forever be sorry for this."

After Dennis gets out of prison, he will be on probation for five years.