JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An infant girl died Tuesday after she was left in a hot car outside a residence on the Northside, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Sgt. Silcox with the sheriff’s office told News 6 partner WJXT that police and members of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department were called to the scene on Newberry Road in reference to an unresponsive child. Silcox said the child was taken to a hospital where she died.
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The residence on the street, Silcox said, also acts as a business. He said the initial investigation shows the child’s father came to do some work, parked his car and left his daughter in the vehicle for approximately an hour before he went back out and found her inside.
“He pulled the child out, began CPR and called 911,” Silcox added.
Police were conducting a neighborhood canvass, looking for video and they were speaking with the father. He said officers were in the initial stages of the investigation.
The sheriff’s office said investigators were called to the area at 2:22 p.m., and Silcox noted the car’s engine was off. The Weather Authority approximated what temperatures inside a car could have reached at about that time — approximately 114 degrees after 20 minutes, 123 degrees after 40 minutes and 128 degrees after an hour.
Jessica Winberry, injury prevention coordinator at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, said hot cars are especially dangerous for children.
“Small children heat up three to five times faster than adults,” Winberry said.
She shared a tip for parents.
“Putting a purse in the back or briefcase in the back so it makes a habit to look in the backseat,” she suggested.
The last death due to a hot vehicle in the Jacksonville area in recent memory occurred in 2019 outside a Westside daycare center. That’s where investigators said a 4-month-old girl was left for five hours inside a daycare van.
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