Nine-month-old dies after grandma leaves baby in hot car for eight hours

A nine-month-old child in Texas died after their grandmother left them strapped inside a hot car for almost eight hours.

The incident happened on Wednesday in Beeville, Texas, approximately 100 miles southeast of San Antonio. Police said the child was found unresponsive around 4pm that day locked in a car seat. The car seat was inside the grandmother's vehicle.

The high in Beeville on Wednesday was 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41C). Texas saw a day of record-breaking heat on Wednesday, which left thousands without power.

“Beeville police detectives are currently on the scene of what appears to be a temperature related death of a 9-month-old child,” the police said in a statement on Wednesday. “A preliminary investigation has determined that the child’s grandmother had left the child in the rear seat of her car in the child safety seat since approximately 8:30 this morning. The child was found at approximately 4pm non-responsive by the grandmother.”

Police said that the incident was being worked as a "criminal homicide," according to ABC News.

“The Beeville police are being assisted by the Department of Public Safety Texas Rangers," the statement said. "No charges have been filed in connection to this case at this time, but such charges are expected to be filed.”

According to Kids and Car Safety, there have already been at least 25 other cases in the US involving children dying after being left in hot cars by their parents.

In May, an 11-month-old baby girl died after her parents left her inside a hot car as they went to church in Florida. The baby had been left in the vehicle for around three hours while her parents attended the service, according to authorities.

The following month, a Florida man was arrested and accused of leaving a six-year-old child in a locked car while he went to work. The girl died later at a hospital due to extreme heat. Before they took her for treatment, the paramedics on scene noted that her internal body temperature was 107.2 degrees Fahrenheit (42C). The high in the Bradenton area of Manatee County on May 20 was 89 degrees (32C).

In July, a mother in South Florida was charged with child neglect after she was accused of leaving her four-year-old daughter in a hot car for more than half-an-hour while she shopped at a Walmart, according to the Hollywood Police Department. The child was rescued after witnesses called the local police and fire to break the car's windows. The charges were later dropped.

This month, a six-month-old boy in Louisiana died after one of his parents forgot to drop him off at hia daycare. The parent left him in a car as temperatures rose above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 C). The baby was found in the backseat around 5:46pm on Tuesday, according to ABC News. The heat index reached 112 degrees (44C) in Baton Rouge on the day of the incident.

Two children — a one-year-old boy and a 10-month-old girl — died on August 13 in separate hot car incidents, according to Kids and Car Safety.

The group’s data shows that Texas has the highest number of child deaths due to hot cars between 1990 and 2023, with a total of 155 deaths. Florida is the second most deadly state for children when it comes to hot cars, with 118 deaths over the same time period. California is the third deadliest, with 65 deaths.