In Buckeye, Arizona, authorities are investigating the tragic death of a 3-year-old girl who was left in a vehicle for over two hours in scorching triple-digit heat. The young girl was inadvertently left in the SUV parked outside her family’s home after returning from a park outing around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. It was not until 5 p.m. that police were called to the scene after reports of an unresponsive child.
Despite efforts by officers who performed chest compressions and used a defibrillator, the child could not be revived. She was promptly taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. The identity of the girl and her parents has not been disclosed, and no arrests have been made as the investigation continues.
Authorities have been talking to the girl’s parents and relatives to piece together the timeline leading to the tragedy. While it remains uncertain if the child was confined in a locked car seat and unable to exit the vehicle by herself, temperatures in Buckeye reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41.1 Celsius) from 2 to 5 p.m. on the day of the incident. Subsequent temperature readings inside the car, well after the child was discovered, reached a sweltering 130 degrees F (54.4 C).
The police emphasized the extreme heat conditions in the Phoenix area and stressed the importance of checking vehicles before locking them, especially in such high temperatures. Sadly, this incident is not an isolated one as data from the Kids and Car Safety website shows that at least 47 children have lost their lives in hot cars in Arizona since 1994.