A baby girl, 1-year-old was on Monday found dead at the back seat of her parent’s car in Tampa, Florida, United States. She was reported to have been forgotten at the back seat of the ”hot car” by her father who unknowingly took another car out.
The Jeep on Monday. PHOTO: Fox 8.
The mother of the 1-year-old called police at around 6:30 p.m. after discovering her in their Jeep.
The girl was not breathing when cops arrived after sitting in the car for hours. Unconscious, she was transported to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to MailOnline report.
“It appears it was a very busy morning for the family. They have several other children as well and in an effort to get everybody where they needed to go, the toddler was left in the backseat,’ said Steve Hegarty with the Tampa Police Department.
Tampa police said the death appears to be accidental, and there are no signs of foul play.
“The dad used the vehicle the toddler was in to take people to school, to work, and all that,’ Hegarty said. ‘[He] then took a separate car to work that caused him to forget the child was in the backseat of the car.”
The high temperature in Tampa Monday was 88, but factor in the humidity and it approached 100 degrees.
This is the 48th time this year that a child died in a hot car, according to the National Safety Council. They say, on average, 38 children under the age of 15 die each year from heatstroke after being left in a vehicle.
The uptick in these avoidable tragedies has caused automakers to take action. New cars will have rear seat reminder systems in most models by 2025, providing a fail-safe for parents.
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