1-Year-Old Dies After Mother Leaves Him in Hot Car

Stock photo of a baby's feet. Vitamin/Pixabay

A one-year-old boy died in Pineville, North Carolina, after being left in his mother’s car for hours while she was at work on Aug. 29, according to multiple reports.

WSOCTV reported the foster mother of the toddler called the police for help after realizing that she left her son in the car when she got off work at 5 p.m. She told police that she was not aware that her son was in the car when she went into work. According to WBTV, the mother pulled into a Lowe’s parking lot on McMullen Creek Parkway and contacted authorities.

According to the Pineville Police Department the toddler was left in the car parked at the McMullen Creek Shopping Center, which is located in the 10600 block of Pineville-Matthews road, where the foster mother worked, The Daily News reported. Authorities were not sure exactly how long the toddler was left in the car, only that he was in the car for a “prolonged period” of time.

According to WSOCTV, the temperature on Aug. 29 was in the mid-80s.

The police released a statement regarding the incident and said that life-saving measures were given to save the toddler, but he did not make it. The child was pronounced dead at the Atrium Pineville Health hospital.

In addition, the Pineville Police Department will be working together with the Department of Social Services on the investigation. Police stated that representatives from the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office were also called in to investigate the case, WBTV reported.

“The mother continues to be cooperative with Pineville Police and we have extended Mobile Crisis help to her and her entire family as they dealt with this tragedy,” the Pineville Police said in a statement, according to Charlotte Observer. “No criminal charges have been filed at this time and our case in ongoing.”

In regards to the investigation, police said, “we have a lengthy investigation ahead of us and we will be working through tonight and during the coming days.”

The Charlotte Observer reported that an autopsy is being performed on the baby to figure out the cause of the toddler’s death. In the statement made by the police on Aug. 30, they said that the toddler remains in the custody of the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office while the investigation into the toddler’s death continues.

“We have many questions and realistically we won’t have all the answers right away,” the police stated.

According to WSOCTV Channel 9, incidents that involve toddlers and children dying hot cars have happened nearly 40 times in the United States during 2019 — two of which happened in North Carolina. Charlotte Observer reported that back on May 2, a nine-month-old toddler named Kaiden Logan also died after being left in a hot car, according to the Kids and Car Child safety organization.