11-month-old girl dies after she was left in a car for three hours while parents went to church
Rachel Lang
Featured Image Credit: Johner Images / Alamy Stock Photo. Directphoto Collection / Alamy Stock Photo
An 11-month-old girl has died after her parents left her alone in a hot car in Florida for three hours while they attended church.
The infant, whose birthday was supposed to be this week, was discovered unresponsive in the car at around 1pm on Sunday (May 28).
According to police, her parents are co-pastors of the Mount of Olives Evangelical Church in Palm Bay.
Religious services begin at approximately 10:15 am, the church website states, meaning the baby girl suffered through sweltering temperatures in what was approaching what is usually the hottest part of the day in the Sunshine State.
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The baby girl was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, however she was later confirmed to have died, police revealed on Tuesday (May 30).
When asked, a police spokesperson did not have available the time of death for the baby.
No arrests have been made at this time, however a police investigation is still ongoing.
The Palm Bay Police Department explained the circumstances leading up to the child's death in a statement.
"When [her parents] arrived, they learned the infant had been left in a car for approximately three hours while the parents went to the church service," the statement said, as per ABC.
"This is an unfortunate incident, and our condolences and prayers go out to the family."
Palm Bay can be found about 75 miles or 120 kilometers southeast of Orlando.
On Sunday, the temperature in the city hit the high 70s fahrenheit around midday.
When it is 70 degrees fahrenheit outside, the temperature inside a car can hit the staggeringly hot temperature of 115 degrees fahrenheit or 46 degrees celsius, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In Australia, a mother was recently found guilty of the manslaughter of her two daughters and was sentenced to nine years in jail after she abandoned her children in a hot car for more than nine hours.
The court heard of the agonising death the two children suffered, with temperatures soaring past 142.7 degrees fahrenheit (61.5 degrees celsius), as the two little girls were cooked alive.
Queensland woman Kerri-Ann Conley was awarded custody of her two children in 2019.
Only 10 days later the two girls were dead.
With time served, Conley will be eligible for parole in November this year, five years after she killed her two daughters.
In the US, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports 33 children died of heatstroke in vehicles in 2022.