Photo: flickr.com / Dodge Charger
It’s mid-June and 11 children have already died after being left or forgotten in locked cars in torrid weather. The 11th victim was just 3 months old.
A woman from Butler County, Kansas, returned home from a baby shower with all her 6 children in her car and, for whatever reason, rushed to get inside so she could take a nap. In the process, she forgot her youngest child in the car and the baby died.
Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet tells ABC affiliate KAKE-TV that the mother, whose identity hasn’t been made public yet, had been out all morning last Saturday. She went for a nap and didn’t remember about her 3-month daughter until hours later, when it was too late to do anything to save her.
“She’d been up some of the night before off and on. Don’t know if it was the children or for what reason, but she felt like she needed a nap,” Herzet explains. “She laid down about 12:30 p.m., and slept until about 4:00.”
When the mother woke up, she rushed to the car but the baby was already unresponsive in the backseat. She was pronounced dead at the scene but an autopsy will establish the exact cause of death. The investigation is ongoing.
“It is a tragedy,” Herzet continues. “A 3-month-old child dying, whether it be in the hands of a perpetrator or in a car, is still a child.”
After a record 2018, in which 52 children died in hot cars, 2019 is showing likewise progress: this baby girl was the 11th victim of a hot car death.
Police and non-profit organizations that raise awareness on the dangers of leaving children in locked cars in warm temperatures note that parents should use certain tricks to remember to remove the kids from their carseats. Leaving a shoe or even the cell phone on the backseat would be reason enough to turn around and see the child there, and thus prevent similar tragedies.
Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet tells ABC affiliate KAKE-TV that the mother, whose identity hasn’t been made public yet, had been out all morning last Saturday. She went for a nap and didn’t remember about her 3-month daughter until hours later, when it was too late to do anything to save her.
“She’d been up some of the night before off and on. Don’t know if it was the children or for what reason, but she felt like she needed a nap,” Herzet explains. “She laid down about 12:30 p.m., and slept until about 4:00.”
When the mother woke up, she rushed to the car but the baby was already unresponsive in the backseat. She was pronounced dead at the scene but an autopsy will establish the exact cause of death. The investigation is ongoing.
“It is a tragedy,” Herzet continues. “A 3-month-old child dying, whether it be in the hands of a perpetrator or in a car, is still a child.”
After a record 2018, in which 52 children died in hot cars, 2019 is showing likewise progress: this baby girl was the 11th victim of a hot car death.
Police and non-profit organizations that raise awareness on the dangers of leaving children in locked cars in warm temperatures note that parents should use certain tricks to remember to remove the kids from their carseats. Leaving a shoe or even the cell phone on the backseat would be reason enough to turn around and see the child there, and thus prevent similar tragedies.
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