Season for Hot Car Deaths Is Here: What You Should Know

A 2-year old girl died Wednesday, after being left in the back seat of a car all day Wednesday in Annandale. No arrest has been made and no charges have been placed at this time, Fairfax County Police said.

Read: Girl, 2, Dies After Being Left All Day in Back Seat of Car: Police

Twenty-four children died when left in hot cars last year, beginning in April 2015 — more than half of these deaths are attributed to being forgotten by a caregiver. After Wednesday's incident in Northern Virginia, four children nationwide have been added to the 2016 list at noheatstroke.org.

The stories are predictable right about this time every year: Parent or caregiver puts baby in back seat, parent drives somewhere intending to drop off baby, parent forgets baby in back seat. Then, with sad regularity, the baby dies from hyperthermia, known more jarringly as heatstroke.

Aside from the lost child, the cases typically destroy families and perplex judicial systems that struggle with how to hold accountable adults whose guilt already cages them.

The first hot-car death of 2016 was recorded in January in Georgia, where a grandmother left a 13-month old in a car with the heat running for more than five hours while visiting friends, according to the Walker County Messenger.

But police and prosecutors nationwide wrestle with what to do with parents or caregivers as the number of such deaths -- where there are no obvious signs of neglect involved -- begin to rise with the temperatures.

Common factors in the cases are stress, parents functioning on too little sleep or a change in daily routine, say experts.

And it falls to the prosecutor in each locale to decide if a soul-destroying mistake is also a crime. A Virginia man, Miles Harrison, was ultimately found not guilty of manslaughter several years ago after leaving his son, Chase, instead of dropping him off at day care.

The Washington Post described Harrison’s anguish in court as he cried for his baby, adopted by Harrison and his wife from Russia, the happy boy who transformed the couple into a family. “I hurt my wife so much,” he told the newspaper “and by the grace of whatever wonderful quality is within her, she has forgiven me. And that makes me feel even worse. Because I can’t forgive me.”

A Georgia father, Justin Harris, faces murder charges for leaving his young son, Cooper, in a hot car for seven hours while he worked. Maryland father John Junek, who reportedly forgot his son was in the back of his vehicle, faces an involuntary manslaughter charge after the child was found dead at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

Hot Car Death: Father's Mistake or Murder?

Safety advocates stress that a child’s body can overheat three to five times faster than an adult.

Patch has compiled these hot car safety tips for parents from KidsandCars.org andParents.com. Review the list and keep a printout in your vehicle as a reminder and checklist.

• Never leave children alone in or around cars; not even for a minute.
• Put your purse, briefcase, cell phone or lunch in the backseat so you are sure to look before you lock the door.
• Make it a habit to always open the back door of your vehicle every time you park to make sure no child has been left behind.
• Keep a large stuffed animal in the child’s car seat when it’s empty; move the toy to the front seat when a child is riding in the car seat as a visual reminder that a child is on board.
• Place your child’s car seat in the middle of the backseat rather than behind the driver. It’s easier to see the child.
• Arrange with your day-care center or babysitter that you will always call if your child will not be there as scheduled.
• Lock your vehicles at all times -- even in the garage or driveway – so youngsters can’t climb in without your knowledge.
• Keep keys and remote openers out of the reach of children.
• Check vehicles and car trunks first when a child is missing.
• Take action if you see a child alone in a vehicle. Call 911 immediately.
• Discuss the issue of hot-car safety with everyone who drives your child, including partners, grandparents, and babysitters.
• Use drive-through services when available at restaurants, banks, pharmacies, dry cleaners, etc. to remain in the vehicle with your child.
• Use your debit or credit card to pay for gas at the pump.

Patch editors Deb Belt and Tim Darnell contributed to this story.