MACCLENNY, Fla. — A 10-month-old girl died after she was left in a hot car in a neighborhood in Baker County. The county sheriff's office said it is investigating the death and expects to file charges.
The child was found Wednesday afternoon, shortly after 1 PM, when temperatures were in the mid-90s. According to reporting from WJXT, the child did not live at the home where the car was parked and had been brought there by a babysitter.
Amanda Steiger, a neighbor interviewed by WJXT said first responders arrived quickly and tried to save the child.
"A paramedic came out with a young child looking lifeless in their arms and put it into the ambulance and then they took off. Then I heard a woman screaming ‘My baby! My baby,’" Steiger said.
According to reporting from FOX Weather, experts say the temperature inside a car can rise more than 40 °F without air circulation. It is not yet known how long the child was left in the SUV.
The advocacy group Kids and Car Safety says 38 children die each year from heatstroke after being left in a vehicle, and Florida ranks among the highest states with hot car deaths. This death marked the sixth such fatality in Florida this year.
The previous death happened in Polk County where parents left their 18-month-old in a car overnight when they were returning from a Fourth of July party. Kids and Car Safety says it’s actually rare for drugs and alcohol to be involved in hot car deaths and that most of the time, kids are unknowingly left by an otherwise loving, responsible parent or caregiver.
