1-year-old girl dies after being left in hot car all day in Texas

[left-of-center2012]

A 1-year-old girl has died after being left in a hot car all day in the Houston area, authorities said. On Thursday morning, the baby's mother drove three children -- ages 5, 3 and 1 -- to day care, where she dropped off the 5-year-old and 3-year-old, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

The mother returned home and went about her day and apparently switched cars at some point, Gonzalez said. She returned to the day care late Thursday afternoon expecting to pick up three kids, but the staff told her only two were dropped off, the sheriff said.

A day care worker went with the mother back to their home where she found the 1-year-old girl at about 6 p.m., Harris County Sheriff's Sgt. Ben Beall told reporters.
Deputies said her body was on the floorboard.

The baby, who had been in car since 8:30 a.m., was pronounced dead at the scene, Beall said.
This marks the 20th hot car death this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.
Texas ranks No. 1 in the country for hot car deaths.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/year-girl-dies-left-hot-car-day-texas/story?id=79936978

https://ktvz.com/cnn-regional/2021/09/10/sheriff-1-year-old-girl-found-dead-in-vehicle-was-left-there-for-hours/

[cayugafalls]

1. I can see forgetting your phone in the car, but a baby?

[marybourg]

3. She didn't forget that the baby was in the car.

She thought she had dropped her off at daycare with the older two.

With the hectic life many women with children live in this era, I can understand how a mom of 3 under 6 could have gotten confused. It’s very sad.

It could have been me. I’m thankful it wasn’t.

[Treefrog]

17. I've had dogs my entire life. Always more than one at a time.

I have NEVER left them in a hot car.

I’d like to think people have that much thought about children?

[Wingus Dingus]

19. It's not about regard for children, or attention to children.

It's a distracted brain that thinks its child-related tasks are all done because she went to the daycare and dropped off children, her brain registered that habitual task, and then her mind switched to other thoughts and concerns. I can understand completely how it happens, because I probably have ADHD (my kids do) and I am extremely forgetful and easily distracted and bad at multitasking.

[Treefrog]

24. I hear you. I've read all this before. I'm ADHD too.

I’ll just never get this kind of thing.

Heart-breaking for all.

[Skittles]

36. thank you

that mum no doubt thought the same thing, until it happened to her

[SoCalDavidS]

2. TX Only Cares About Your Life Until You're Born

After that, whether it's Guns, Covid, or neglectful parents, you're on your own.

[Paladin]

10. I'm a lifelong Texan. Please forgive me for this baby's death.

No, I'm not completely serious. Getting a little weary of Texas being blamed for all the ills of the universe.

God bless this poor child. She deserved much better.

[SoCalDavidS]

11. I'm Sorry That They Control Your State

I'm sure there are good people there, you're just drowned out by the majority. That's why the Democrats were unable to even come close to defeating the voting restrictions bill, nor the abortion law.

[TheProle]

23. Thanks for the patronizing "I'm sure there are some good people there"

Almost 5.5 million of us voted for President Biden.

[Treefrog]

25. Not everybody engages in the region/state hate.

Believe me, most of us on this board don’t judge people by where they live.

[TheProle]

27. Thanks for saying so

And I know... still stings.

[Treefrog]

28. Don't let it sting.

People who live in glass houses…ya know?

No perfect state.

[TheProle]

29. True

Part of me is still pissed about some of the comments about Texas women supporting the abortion law. Reading that while watching my wife, her mom and sisters all vacillating between tears and anger got me fed up with some of the regionalism bullshit.

[LanternWaste]

33. No one has argued otherwise.

"No perfect state..."

No one has argued otherwise.

[Treefrog]

35. Yes.

They have.

Good to see you sweetums.

[Mr.Bill]

30. They're only the "majority"

because of voter supression.

[Treefrog]

18. This happens in every state.

Ignore the region-hate.

[XanaDUer2]

21. Thank you for holding onto liberal values in a red state

it's probably not easy at times

[Treefrog]

26. Especially when you have to deal with disdain from your "fellow" Dems.

I hate the dross I read here so often - putting people down for where they live.

[Mr.Bill]

31. It sure wasn't fun being a Californian

when Reagan was governor.

[milestogo]

4. I thought they had protocols where daycares expect the kids that are being dropped off.

So if one doesn't get dropped off, somebody notices.

[Treefrog]

5. Body found on floorboard?

Surely a 1 year old can't get out of a car seat? All kinds of questions here...

[Haggard Celine]

6. I feel sorry for this mother.

She really fucked up, of course, but she doesn't seem to have been deliberately neglectful of the child. This woman is going to be vilified by most everyone, and she'll no doubt be punished severely for her absent-mindedness. The State of Texas is nothing if not punitive. She's going to lose her kids and everything she has, most likely. Of course I feel for the child; that was a horrible way to die. But I can't help but put myself in that mother's shoes. What a mess!

[jimfields33]

8. I honestly wish the car manufacturers would invent something that alerts when others

are in the car. I mean they alert when you hit a median in the road. Clearly something could be done.

As far as the mother goes, I feel for her. The floor board thing is strange though.

[OriginalGeek]

34. my car does

I have a 2017 Chevy Colorado and it warns me to check the rear seat every single time I turn off the car if the back doors have been opened since the last trip.

[MenloParque]

7. I don't understand

How in the hell this happens?!? There are no acceptable excuses. Some people don’t deserve children.

[Wingus Dingus]

9. Because in her mind, dropping her other two kids off

made her brain say "mission accomplished" and it moved on to other matters. Probably the baby was quiet or asleep in the back and somehow she overlooked her.

[Bluesaph]

32. Maybe she took her out of her car seat

And then got distracted and rushed the kids in and didn’t notice she forgot to take out the one year old.

I am having many stress related brain issues and ran a red light last week. Straight up ran it. I was thinking about all the things I had to do.

I’ve put my grandson in the car seat and buckled him up and thank god had to go back to the back seat to notice I had forgotten to attach the seat to the car.

Life is hard for busy moms and dads. We need to do better and car manufacturers need to invent something.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. I cannot imagine the pain.

[Ocelot II]

13. This article about forgetting kids in cars, "Fatal Distraction," won a Pulitzer.

It's really interesting - it discusses in considerable detail the mental stresses that contribute to these incidents. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html

[Sympthsical]

14. I was about to post this

There are psychological and neurological explanations behind this kind of forgetting.

Poor child. Poor mother.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

20. This article fundamentally changed my thinking about what should happen to parents who forget their

children in cars, and also put me on a larger path toward thinking about punishment, incarceration, and police/prison abolition.

[phylny]

15. This is horrific, but I don't get how you "forget" your baby when the other two had to be in

some kind of car seat/booster seat.

I think daycares should take the extra step of having you sign in by your child's name.

Smith, Jane - Check
Smith, John - Check
Smith, Joseph - whoops, where's the baby? OH MY GOD, IN THE CAR. Check.

[Ocelot II]

16. Read the article in post #13 for an explanation.

[phylny]

37. I will, thank you.

[Catherine Vincent]

22. ...