11-Month Old Dies After Parents Leaves Her In Hot Car While In Church

An 11-month-old girl has died after her parents accidentally left the child in a car when they went to church, according to police.

WESH reported that the call came in around 1 p.m. Sunday for an unresponsive baby at the Mount of Olives Evangelical Baptist Church on Babcock Street in Palm Bay.

Police said the baby had been left in the vehicle for around three hours while the parents attended a service at the church.

Palm Bay police in a statement saying that when officers arrived, the baby was in a vehicle unresponsive and transported to Palm Bay Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

“This is an unfortunate incident, and our condolences and prayers go out to the family,” Palm Bay Police Chief Mario Augello said.

While the investigation into what exactly happened in Palm Bay is ongoing, it’s good for all parents to continue being aware of their surroundings and keep their children safe.

According to KidsAndCars.org, Florida is number two in the nation for child hot car deaths. Texas is number one.

“We know that a car can heat up 20 degrees above the outside temperature within 10 minutes,” Dr. Kevin Campbell of Health First told the news outlet.

“If a child gets to be 104 degrees, that’s when their temperature can cause problems. And you can start to see heat stroke. And above 107 degrees and we can see death,” Campbell said.

“The most important thing for people to know is that it can happen to absolutely anyone. There’s no norm to it,” said Jeanne Fennell, the president and founder of KidsAndCars.org.

Ways to stay safe for family members:

• Always keep something in the kid’s car seat. This can be like a Teddy bear or a toy. Then, move it up front when you put them in their seat. That way you will be reminded that they are back there.
• Put something important in the seat with your child. Make it something that you will miss right away, like your phone or work ID badge.
• Set up a call program with daycare. Set it up so that daycare will call you if your child is not dropped off.

Nationally, about 38 children are lost to hot car deaths each year and there’s concern that after a dip during COVID-19, this summer might see the numbers rebound. This year, there has been 3 infant hot car deaths in Florida.

The organization states that they have been trying to get the car industry to make changes to their technology to help keep children safe and prevent more infant deaths.

The investigation is still ongoing. Police did not say whether they expect to file charges.