A 9-year-old girl died after being intentionally left alone in a hot car while her mother was at work, according to Harris County, Texas Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
The girl’s 36-year-old mother left her unattended in a white Toyota Camry on Tuesday between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. while working at a manufacturing plant in Galena Park, Texas, near Houston, according to the sheriff’s office.
The mother left the child with some water, partially rolled down the vehicle’s windows, and then “proceeded to go to work for the day,” according to officials.
“There’s never an excuse to leave a child unattended,” Gonzalez said at the press conference.
When the mother returned to the vehicle later in the afternoon, after her shift ended, she discovered her daughter unresponsive. Law enforcement was contacted at around 2:06 p.m. and detained the mother, according to officials.
The National Weather Service reported that temperatures in the Houston area reached around 93 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday.
The child was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead, officials said.
According to the sheriff, detectives are still speaking with the mother to learn more about why the child was kept in the car and how long she was alone in it. Officials are also awaiting the child’s autopsy results before deciding whether to file charges.
Officials told ABC News on Thursday that the mother is no longer detained because the autopsy results are still pending, and that the Harris County District Attorney’s Office will decide whether to charge her in connection with the incident.
Gonzalez described the incident, “which could have been prevented,” as a “unique” situation, as most hot car deaths are accidental.
“Perhaps she needs to work to make ends meet. But the risk of death or harm cannot be reconciled in my mind. You need to make other arrangements. It’s not worth putting a child in danger like this, for any reason,” Gonzalez said.
He went on to say that nothing indicates that the mother “thought this would be the outcome.”
This is the third hot car death in Texas in the last four days, and at least the 13th child to die in a hot car nationwide this year, according to Kids and Car Safety, an organisation dedicated to “saving the lives of children and pets in and around vehicles.”
