Boy dies after being left in hot car while mom allegedly rushed to set up sister’s birthday party
06/21/2022 11:45 am PDT
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (TCD) -- A young boy died this week after being left in a hot car for hours while his mother allegedly rushed to get ready for her daughter’s birthday party.
On Monday, June 20, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted that deputies responded to a residence on the 13700 block of Blair Hill Lane that afternoon and found a child deceased inside a vehicle. They reportedly determined he had been left inside the car for "several hours" and was declared dead at the scene.
Gonzalez told KHOU-TV the boy, his sister, and his mother went to a store because they were "preparing to celebrate a birthday party" that afternoon. When they got home, the mother and 8-year-old sister reportedly got out of the car to prepare for the get-together and allegedly did not realize the boy was not with them.
According to Gonzalez, the boy knew how to unbuckle himself and the mother believed "he was doing the same thing today."
The sheriff said the family was driving a rental vehicle, so the child might not have been as familiar with the settings.
Houston Public Media reports Houston and the entire state of Texas are in the midst of a heat wave, with temperatures reaching triple digits in many areas.
It was not immediately clear whether the boy’s mother would face any charges.
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