9-month-old dies after grandmother leaves tot in hot car for 8 hours in Texas
A 9-month-old baby in Texas died after being left for eight hours in the safety seat of a car by the child’s grandmother — a day after a 22-month-old died in a hot car in another part of the state.
The baby was found unresponsive at approximately 4 p.m. Wednesday in Beeville, local police said on Facebook.
It appears that the grandmother left the child strapped in a safety seat in the rear of her car at around 8:30 a.m., Beeville Police wrote.
Temperatures in the city reached a high of 105 degrees that day, according to AccuWeather.
No official charges have been filed yet, but are expected later, the police department added. The incident is being investigated as a criminal homicide, and the state Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers are involved in the probe, Beeville Police said.
The tot’s tragic death comes just a day after another hot car fatality in the Lone Star State.
A 22-month-old died in Corpus Christi after the mother forgot to drop off the child at day care on Tuesday, according to CBS Texas.
Hilda Ann Adame, 33, left little Harley Adame in her parked vehicle from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to reports. Corpus Christi reached a high of 102 degrees that day, according to AccuWeather.
The mother was arrested on charges including injury to a child and abandonment of a child, according to the Corpus Christi Police.
The department posted an alert on its Facebook page Thursday afternoon, urging caution. The post was accompanied by a graphic that illustrated how temperatures can quickly turn deadly.
“It’s another hot day in Corpus Christi,” the post said. “Make sure you stay hydrated. High temperatures can turn deadly quickly.”
The Beeville and Corpus Christi Police Departments were unable to immediately provide comment beyond their official statements.
There have been at least 25 other cases this year alone of children dying in hot cars, according to Kids and Car Safety.
Texas has the most child deaths from hot cars from 1990 to 2023, with a total of 156 deaths, followed by Florida, with 118, according to the organization.