Infant Left In Hot Car All Day Found Dead
A nine-month-old boy sat in a hot car all day because his father allegedly forgot to drop him off at the babysitter before going to work.
The infant was tragically pronounced dead at about 7:00 pm when San Jose, California, police and paramedics responded to a call about an unresponsive child after the dad came back to the vehicle and realized his son was still inside.
The parked SUV has tinted windows, so passersby on the busy street during the day didn’t notice a baby in the car seat. The temperature inside the vehicle could have climbed to as high as 100-plus degrees.
According to a San Jose police official, “The father went to work and just forgot that the infant was in the car. It’s a tragic situation for that family and the community. I can’t imagine what that family is going through.”
The same official explained that the infant’s father, who ordinarily worked from 9 am to 6 pm, “parked his car on the street with the baby strapped in his car seat and went to work. At the end of his work day, he returned to his car to discover his baby was unconscious. When he called 911, it was too late.”
The baby’s father is described as grief-stricken as a result of this tragedy.
Detectives have the Wednesday evening incident under investigation and no arrests have been made at this time. The case will be reviewed by prosecutors in Santa Clara County.
About 38 kids die in the US each year after being left in hot cars, but apparently this is the first such incident in 2014. There were 44 heat-stroke-related car deaths last year.
Separately, during a pre-Black Friday shopping event last Thanksgiving, a Florida man was charged with felony child neglect after his baby was allegedly found alone in the back seat of the car when he shopped at Best Buy. Fortunately the child was unharmed.
[Image via Shutterstock]
