(GALENA PARK, Texas) — A 9-year-old girl has died in after she was intentionally left alone in a hot car while her mom was at work, according to Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
The girl’s 36-year-old mother left the child unattended in a white Toyota Camry on Tuesday from approximately 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. while she worked at a manufacturing plant in Galena Park, Texas, near Houston, the sheriff’s office said during a press conference.
The mother left the child with some water, partially rolled down the windows of the vehicle and then “proceeded to go to work for the day,” officials said.
“There’s never an excuse to leave a child unattended,” Gonzalez said during the press conference.
Upon returning to the vehicle later in the afternoon when her shift ended, the mother found her daughter unresponsive. Law enforcement was contacted at approximately 2:06 p.m. and detained the mother, officials said. Temperatures in the Houston area reached around 93 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The child was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead, officials said.
Detectives continue to speak with the mother to gain more insight on why the child was kept in the car and the exact timeline of how long she was alone in the vehicle, the sheriff said. Officials are also waiting to receive the child’s autopsy results before deciding whether to press any charges.
Gonzalez said the incident, “which could have been prevented,” is a “unique” situation, since most hot car deaths are typically an accident.
“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,” Gonzalez said.
He went on to say that nothing at this point shows that the mother “thought this would be the outcome.”
This tragedy marks the third hot car death to occur 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 organization focused on “saving the lives of children and pets in and around vehicles.”
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