Infant Dies After Being Left In Hot Phoenix Vehicle

PHOENIX — It’s another of those stories Arizonans would rather not hear, and the fourth story of its kind in the state this year: A 4-month-old girl died Tuesday after being left inside the family's vehicle for hours while her foster father was at work inside a Washington Elementary School building, according to news and police reports. The baby’s foster father is a district administrator who returned to his vehicle after work and found he had left the girl inside the van.

Phoenix police Detective Luis Samudio said the 56-year-old man reported to work around 7 a.m. after stopping at daycare to drop off several other kids. The foster father left work a few hours later to pick up the baby and go to an appointment. Then he returned to work. He later found the baby still in the vehicle in the school’s parking lot when he left work around 3:30 p.m.

According to an account by azcentral.com, Samudio said the foster father is “a good man” and that the man and his wife have fostered and adopted other children too. Police are still investigating the incident, as is the Arizona Department of Child Safety, and neither organization knows yet know if criminal charges will be brought against the man.

In the meantime, DCS spokesman Darren DaRonco conveyed the department's sympathy in a statement to The Arizona Republic. "The Department mourns the tragic loss of this innocent child, and we send our condolences and prayers to the child's loved ones," he wrote.

A spokesperson from the Washington Elementary School District also issued a media statement expressing sympathy for those grieving the child’s death. “Our hearts go out to our staff member, his family and all of his colleagues who are grieving this tragic loss. We will be providing support to the entire Transportation team tomorrow and in the days to come. While we are all grieving, we will continue to provide service to our students and families.”

According to KidsAndCars.org, yesterday’s child hot car death is the 48th in the country and the fourth in Arizona this year. The three previous 2019 hot car deaths in Arizona included the April death of an 18-month-old girl in Glendale, the May death of a 20-month-old girl in Lake Havasu and the September death of a 3-year-old girl in Gilbert. Kids and Cars reported previously that with 52 hot car child deaths, 2018 was the deadliest year on record.

While stories such as these leave parents, caregivers and even the childless to wonder how these things can happen, Patch reported previously that University of South Florida psychology professor David Diamond said it’s often a matter of the “habit memory” versus the “prospective memory” brain systems and which prevails, especially when parents are stressed or aren’t getting enough sleep. The habit memory system enables people to complete routine tasks without really giving them any thought, while the prospective memory system comes into play when an individual is making plans.

Arizona State University associate psychology professor Gene Brewer also told Patch that hot car child deaths usually result from a “distracted” parent. “Functionally, there isn’t much of a difference between forgetting your keys and forgetting your child in the car,” he said.

That’s where the federal bipartisan Hot Cars Act of 2019, under Congressional review, could come in, proponents hope. Twenty-one states have enacted laws pertaining to children left unattended in hot cars, and Arizona is not one of them. The Act would mandate a child-presence detection and alert system in all new cars to prevent drivers or caregivers from accidentally leaving a child (or a pet) in the car. Other similar legislation has been proposed in the U.S. Senate.

While the bill is supported by safety and consumer organizations, law enforcement, animal protection groups and others, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has said in a statement that it takes about 20 years for all vehicles on the road to be outfitted with emerging technology improvements such as those recommended in the Hot Cars Act of 2019. The organization also reported that less than 13 percent of those who buy new cars have children younger than age 6.

In the meantime, with a 90-degree day heating up a car’s interior to 133 degrees in an hour, according to San Jose State University professor and meteorologist Jan Null, there are things parents and caregivers can do to avoid child hot car death tragedies. (Keep in mind that a body temperature of 107 degrees will kill a child, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported.)

Samudio recommends drivers leave a cellphone close to their child on the back seat because adults look at their cellphones frequently while at work and will quickly remember to go get the phone from the car. In the process, they will see the child they accidentally left behind, he said. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also made some recommendations for parents and caregivers to avoid child hot car deaths:

• Put a stuffed animal on the front seat to remind you that a child is still in the back seat.

• If something about your routine has changed that day or if your child is driven by another person, check to verify that the child has arrived where they should have.

• Check your vehicle’s back seat before locking the car and leaving.