A 9-year-old has tragically died after she was left unattended inside a hot car deliberately by her mother on Tuesday, who was away at work, as per the Harris County, Texas, sheriff, Ed Gonzalez.
According to the sheriff’s office the mother, 36, left her 9-year-old daughter in white Toyota Camry from 6 am to 2pm while she was working at a manufacturing plant in Galena Park, Texas, near Houston. She had partially rolled the windows and left the child with some water and then "proceeded to go to work for the day," said officials, as reported by ABC.
Temperatures in the Houston area were as high as 93 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, as reported by the National Weather Service.
"There's never an excuse to leave a child unattended," Gonzalez said during the press conference."Maybe she has to make ends meet and keep food on the table and work. But the risk of death or harm -- there's just no reconciling that in my mind. You got to make other arrangements. It's not worth it to put a child at risk like this, for any particular reason," he added.
“I don’t know if anyone checked on the child throughout the day,” said Gonzalez, reported New York Post. .
After her shift ended the mother returned to the car and found the child unresponsive. Around 2 pm law enforcement was contacted and the mother was detained. The child was declared dead after she was taken to a local hospital.
Detectives are still questioning the mother to better understand why the child was left in the car and to establish a clear timeline of how long she was alone, the sheriff said. Authorities are also awaiting the results of the child’s autopsy before determining whether any charges will be filed and the mother is no longer under detainment.
Gonzalez said the situation could have been “prevented” and is a “unique situation” as most car deaths are typically accidents. He also added that nothing currently indicates that the mother "thought this would be the outcome."
This tragedy is not the first one as it is the third hot car death in Texas and the thirteenth one across the nation, according to Kids and Car Safety, an organization that “saves the lives of children and pets in and around vehicles."
According to the sheriff’s office the mother, 36, left her 9-year-old daughter in white Toyota Camry from 6 am to 2pm while she was working at a manufacturing plant in Galena Park, Texas, near Houston. She had partially rolled the windows and left the child with some water and then "proceeded to go to work for the day," said officials, as reported by ABC.
Temperatures in the Houston area were as high as 93 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, as reported by the National Weather Service.
"There's never an excuse to leave a child unattended," Gonzalez said during the press conference."Maybe she has to make ends meet and keep food on the table and work. But the risk of death or harm -- there's just no reconciling that in my mind. You got to make other arrangements. It's not worth it to put a child at risk like this, for any particular reason," he added.
“I don’t know if anyone checked on the child throughout the day,” said Gonzalez, reported New York Post. .
After her shift ended the mother returned to the car and found the child unresponsive. Around 2 pm law enforcement was contacted and the mother was detained. The child was declared dead after she was taken to a local hospital.
Detectives are still questioning the mother to better understand why the child was left in the car and to establish a clear timeline of how long she was alone, the sheriff said. Authorities are also awaiting the results of the child’s autopsy before determining whether any charges will be filed and the mother is no longer under detainment.
Gonzalez said the situation could have been “prevented” and is a “unique situation” as most car deaths are typically accidents. He also added that nothing currently indicates that the mother "thought this would be the outcome."
This tragedy is not the first one as it is the third hot car death in Texas and the thirteenth one across the nation, according to Kids and Car Safety, an organization that “saves the lives of children and pets in and around vehicles."
You may also like
Liam Gallagher thanks Oasis fans 'for putting up with them over the years'
Love Island Casa Amor return chaos as Harry's ex joins ITV2 show as bombshell
'Promises made, promises kept': Donald Trump signs 'Big Beautiful Bill' into law
'Best gangster movie ever' is 'simply a masterpiece' with near-perfect 97% score
'I brought my husband to a date with another woman on TV and this is how it went'
