9-Month-Old Dies After Being Left in Hot Car for 8 Hours by Grandma

A nine-month-old child tragically lost their life in Texas after being left strapped inside a hot car for nearly eight hours. The incident occurred on Wednesday in Beeville, Texas, located around 100 miles southeast of San Antonio.

Authorities reported that the child was discovered unresponsive around 4 PM, secured in a car seat within the grandmother’s vehicle. On that day, Beeville experienced soaring temperatures, with a high reaching 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius). It was a day of extreme heat across Texas, resulting in widespread power outages for many residents.

According to a statement from the Beeville police, a preliminary investigation revealed that the grandmother left the child in the rear seat of the car around 8:30 AM. The heartbreaking discovery was made by the grandmother herself when she found the child unresponsive later in the afternoon.

This incident is being treated as a “criminal homicide,” as reported by ABC News. The Beeville police are working in conjunction with the Texas Department of Public Safety Rangers to gather more information. Currently, no charges have been filed against the grandmother, but law enforcement officials indicated that charges are anticipated as the investigation continues.

Data from Kids and Car Safety reveals that this incident is among at least 25 similar tragedies reported across the U.S. this year, where children died after being left in hot cars. In one recent case from May in Florida, an 11-month-old baby girl lost her life after her parents left her in a vehicle for about three hours while attending church.

In another instance, a Florida man was arrested after leaving a six-year-old child locked in a car while he went to work. The child later died due to extreme heat, with reports indicating that her body temperature reached a shocking 107.2 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) before paramedics could transport her to a hospital.

In July, a mother in South Florida faced child neglect charges after leaving her four-year-old daughter in a hot car for over half an hour while shopping at Walmart. The child was saved after witnesses called emergency services, resulting in firefighters breaking the car’s windows. Subsequently, the charges were dropped.

Additionally, this month in Louisiana, a six-month-old boy died after one of his parents forgot to drop him off at daycare. The infant was left in a car amid soaring temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The baby was discovered in the backseat of the vehicle around 5:46 PM when the heat index reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 degrees Celsius) in Baton Rouge.

On August 13, two separate incidents involving a one-year-old boy and a ten-month-old girl resulted in their deaths due to being left in hot cars, as documented by Kids and Car Safety.

Statistics from the organization indicate that Texas has recorded the highest number of child fatalities related to hot cars from 1990 through 2023, totaling 155 deaths. Florida follows as the second deadliest state, with 118 child fatalities during the same period, while California ranks third with 65 deaths attributed to similar circumstances.