Child Dies After Being Left in Hot Car as Father Visited Friend in Arizona

A stock photo shows an ambulance with lights flashing. Joshua Lott/Getty Images

A western Arizona man was jailed after his toddler daughter died in a hot car, according to reports. The suspect reportedly was smoking marijuana and playing video games while the girl was in the hot vehicle.

Ty Martin, 23, left his 18-month-old daughter in a car for about 45 minutes to an hour while he visited a friend, 23-year-old Noah Grabowski, said Lake Havasu City police, as reported by the Arizona Republic.

Officers responded to a call about an unresponsive child before starting CPR, said police.

The girl was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival, the Republic reported.

Martin was arrested on charges of manslaughter, and Grabowski was arrested on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, and cultivation of marijuana.

“This incident is tragic for everyone involved and completely avoidable,” Lake Havasu City police officials told the paper.

The Mohave Valley Daily News reported that Martin said he was smoking marijuana and playing video games with Grabowski while the child was in the car.

Officials noted that it’s never acceptable to leave a child inside an unattended vehicle regardless of whether it is running or not.

“The Lake Havasu City Police Department would like to remind everyone that it is never acceptable to leave a child unattended inside of a motor vehicle. Inside temperatures can spike rapidly, even with the air conditioner running. Also, an unattended child inside of a vehicle, running or not, could be subjected to a host of other dangers,” said police.

Temperatures in Lake Havasu reached 86 degrees on Saturday when the girl died.

Studies have shown that a car’s internal temperature can quickly reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit when the temperature is in the mid-80s.

Other details about the case were not released by officials.

Other Incidents

A 4-year-old trapped in a hot car helped rescue seven toddlers between the ages of 2 and 4 in Maryland after dialing 911.

Authorities with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office were then called to a parking lot in Waldorf, finding the children “sweaty” and “scared,” officials noted. The toddler wasn’t named, WJLA reported.

The car was unlocked, but the windows were rolled up.

Sheriff’s officials said there was only a single car seat in the vehicle, WJLA reported.

The suspect in the case is a mother of two of the children involved in the case. The mother allegedly told the children not to leave the vehicle, it was reported.

Officers said they aren’t sure how long the children were in the vehicle. The mother came outside as authorities were on the scene about 10 minutes later, Southern Maryland News Net reported, adding that she is 37.

According to reports on May 7, a toddler died after being left in a car in New Jersey.

Lakewood Township police said they are investigating the death of the nearly 2-year-old girl, NBC New York reported, which added that the girl died at around 2 p.m. local time.

Mayor Meir Lichtenstein said warm temperatures contributed to this girl’s death. “It seems like wonderful parents. They have one other child that is approximately 4 1/2 years old that is also a girl, and they are very saddened,” Lakewood Mayor Meir Lichtenstein told CBS New York. “I was actually at the hospital and I saw the parents. They’re extremely saddened by what happened.”

And, in Minnesota, a father was arrested after leaving a 4-year-old in a hot car while he worked.