Phoenix girl, 3, dies after police find her in hot car; mother arrested
08/31/2020 4:00 pm PDT
By Ashley Loose, KNXV
PHOENIX (KNXV) -- Phoenix Police say a child reported missing died after being found inside a parked car Sunday.
Officers were called to a home near Interstate 17 and Thunderbird Road around 4:30 p.m. Sunday where 23-year-old Tianna Jones reported her daughter missing. They found the child, 3-year-old Delilah Jones, unresponsive in the driver's seat of Jones's vehicle. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The cause of death is under investigation, but the National Weather Service recorded Phoenix's high temperature at 103 degrees on Sunday.
According to court documents, Jones admitted to partying the night before, drinking alcohol, and using cocaine. Jones told police she and daughter Delilah went inside at 10:30 a.m. to take a nap. According to surveillance video, Delilah left the apartment at 11:52 a.m. and got into her mom's car at 12:03 p.m. Jones didn't leave her apartment looking for Delilah until 4:10 p.m. and it wasn't until 4:30 p.m. when Jones called police.
Police paperwork also showed that the Department of Child Services had been involved before and removed the child due to neglect. Jones was arrested and booked into jail on a child abuse charge.
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