2-Year-Old Dies In US After Being Left Behind In Hot Car, Father Charged With Murder

A two-year-old child, who was left unattended in a car in the United States, died due to excessive heat, USA Today said, quoting Kids and Car Safety. The incident took place on February 27 in Atmore, Alabama. The advocacy group said this is the United States' first reported hot car death of 2023. The father of the child, 51-year-old Shawn Rounsavall, has been charged with reckless murder. A hot car death in the month of February is rare, with only six such cases reported since 1998, according to website noheatstroke.org.

The police said the toddler was left in the car for eight hours instead of being dropped off at a daycare by the father, the USA Today report further said.

They added that Mr Rounsavall was arrested after the police were contacted by Atmore Community Hospital. The child was pronounced dead by the doctors shortly after being transported to the hospital.

The National Weather Service in the US said that the temperature in Atmore was 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 degrees Celsius). But noheatstroke.org said that inside a hot car, it can soar to 123 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) in just one hour.

"When a core body temperature of 107 degrees or greater is reached, then cells are damaged and internal organs begin to shut down. This cascade of events can rapidly lead to death," the website explained.

Advocacy groups in the US say 38 children die in hot cars every year across the country. The figures also reveal that more than 1,052 children have died in hot cars since 1990 and at least another 7,300 survived with varying types of injuries.