A Baltimore father went on trial Thursday for second-degree murder in the death of his 2-year-old daughter, who was left for 16 hours in a hot car.

Assistant State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess told jurors that 32-year-old Wilbert Leon Carter decided to drink, and continue drinking, while his daughter, Leasia Carter, was with him. He passed out and forgot about her, leaving her strapped to her car seat on a day when outside temperatures reached 89 degrees, Leitess said.

“We're here today because Wilbert Carter placed his needs above the needs of his own child,” Leitess said. “The defendant didn't take her home to brush her teeth and put on her pajamas. Leasia was left behind in a car.”

“There are tragic accidents we hear about every day,” Leitess said. “This is no tragic accident. This was no mere mistake.”

Carter's defense attorney, Margaret Mead, described him as a doting father of three who had sole custody of Leasia and lived with his mother and aunt, who were available to help care for her. She described him as a casual drinker but said he was having gin that night and lost control.

“There is no doubt in any way, shape or form that this little girl should not have died,” Mead said. “But this was not a crime.”

Leasia died on June 22, 2015 — the day after Father's Day.

“There's not one single human being who feels more stress and sadness [about what happened] than Wilbert Carter,” Mead said.

In addition to second-degree depraved-heart murder, Carter also is charged with voluntary manslaughter, child abuse resulting in death and lesser related charges.

Second-degree murder carries a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison. The child abuse charge brings the possibility of 25 years in prison, while voluntary manslaughter could result in 10 years in prison. He has been free on $250,000 bail.

The trial opened with testimony from the paramedics who responded to the scene in Northeast Baltimore's Belair-Edison neighborhood.

Carter dropped his head and was consoled by Mead as a 911 call was played. Multiple voices could be heard screaming as a woman told the dispatcher, “A child was left in the car. She's been in there all day.”

“I can't look at her,” the caller said when the dispatcher asked for a description of Leasia's condition.

Fire Department Lt. Derrick Wilmering took a deep breath before describing how he saw “massive” second- and third-degree burns on the child's body. She was lifeless, he said.

Yet because of her age, and the slightest hope that she could be saved, paramedics continued to try to resuscitate Leasia while transporting her to a hospital.

Leitess, the prosecutor, told jurors that Carter had been drinking at a relative's house as Leasia and relatives close in age played. He tossed back gin with his sister's husband, then around midnight drove back to Baltimore with her. He continued to drink — police found an open tall can of malt liquor in the front-seat cup holder.

He decided to try to meet up with a woman he was seeing and parked his car two blocks from his home.

Leitess said earlier during a pretrial proceeding that the state believes Carter knew Leasia was in the back seat and hoped she would continue sleeping while he met with the woman.

Mead said there was no evidence to support the theory.

In the morning, the woman found him passed out on her front porch “like a drunken teenager,” Leitess said.

When he returned home, his aunt asked where Leasia was; he said he thought she was at his sister's house and went to sleep in the basement, waking up at 4 p.m.

This time when he woke up, he realized something was wrong and went looking for Leasia, who was still strapped into her car seat in the back of his Lincoln Town Car.

Mead said Carter was “not someone who drinks hard liquor.” She said it would have been no problem for him to leave Leasia with a relative, and said those who knew him will testify that he was a good father.

The state prevailed during a pretrial motion in an effort to present testimony that Leasia's maternal grandmother previously scolded Carter for leaving the girl in a car in May 2015. Leitess said that episode showed Carter was “on notice” about leaving Leasia in the car alone.

Mead countered with the testimony of Carter's best friend, who said he was there and Carter had only stepped away for a moment. The friend, Daniel Simmons, had stayed at the car with the girl and couldn't understand the grandmother's objection.

jfenton@baltsun.com