A Florida mother was arrested for her 1-year-old daughter’s hot car death, officials from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said, and faces charges of negligent manslaughter.
According to Pollard’s arrest report, she said she forgot to drop off her baby at day care on Friday, and unintentionally left her in the car from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in sweltering 96-degree Fahrenheit (35.5 Celsius) heat.
“Seminole Co. investigators are questioning the mother of a one-year-old girl discovered dead in the back of a car at a local gas station this evening. Investigators are developing a timeline and consulting the State Attorney’s Office. We will continue to provide updates,” Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The baby, Kit Noelle Pollard, was found at 4:40 p.m. at a Sanford Wawa location on State Road 46, according to the Seminole County Fire Department. The toddler showed no vital signs and was pronounced dead from cardiac arrest, officials said.
According to the arrest report, the mother said she only discovered the body after picking up food from Olive Garden and then stopping for gas.
The baby was in a rear-facing car seat, the arresting deputy said, according to ClickOrlando. The car seat was directly behind the driver’s side.
The deputy said there was a small mirror on the headrest in front of the car seat, which could be used “for direct visual connection with the driver and car seat rider via rearview mirror.”
Pollard told deputies that it wasn’t until she began refueling her car that she “ultimately became aware that her daughter was in the back seat,” according to the arrest report.
The child was in the car for 7 hours on a day on which the temperature had been two degrees higher than the record for that day, ClickOrlando, citing the National Weather Service.
Pollard, who reportedly works at solar energy company iQ Power, seemed to be in shock during the interview with law enforcement officials.
She asked for a lawyer and was uncooperative with the investigation before being taken to Central Florida Regional Hospital for extreme anxiety.
She appeared in court Saturday with attorney Kyle Fletcher, as well as the baby’s father and grandfather. She is scheduled to make another court appearance on Oct. 23.
Pollard is being held at John E. Polk Correctional Facility on a $20,000 bond.
According to the report, both the child’s father and grandfather said the accused was an attentive mother and the tragedy was an accident.
On the same day in Florida, a 4-year-old boy died in a hot car.
A bystander discovered the boy at around 2:30 p.m. in a car parked outside Orange County school Elite Preparatory Academy near the intersection of Oak Ridge Road and Rio Grande Avenue.
“The child was rushed by that rescue station to Arnold Palmer Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased,” sheriff’s spokesman Jeff Williamson said.
“Unfortunately, we know how busy we all get in our life. I’m not excusing people of anything, however. There are ways to remember you have a child in a car. We live in Florida.”
No charges were filed in that case.
Technologies are being developed to prevent hot car deaths. Watch the video below for details.
