At least 3 young children died in the span of a week after being left in hot cars in the US
By Lauren Mascarenhas, Melissa Alonso and Amanda Musa, CNN
(CNN) — At least three people across the United States are facing charges related to the deaths of young children left in hot cars during one scorching week in the US.
A 2-month-old in New Jersey, a 2-year-old in Arizona and a 5-year-old in Nebraska died after being left in vehicles in the heat. The deaths have prompted renewed calls for safety awareness as a record-setting heat wave continues to grip much of the nation.
The incidents are the latest among at least 11 such child deaths nationwide so far this year – six in the first half of this month – according to data from the nonprofit Kids and Car Safety.
Temperatures can rise quickly in a car, leading to potentially deadly situations within minutes, safety experts say, and authorities are reminding people that children should never be left alone in vehicles – especially in hot weather.
The 2-month-old New Jersey girl died Monday after being left inside a hot car in Lakewood, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Officers from the Lakewood Township Police Department responded to a report of a pediatric patient in cardiac arrest around 1:45 p.m. Monday, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a news release. A criminal complaint notes the child was left unattended in the parked vehicle, which was not running, for more than four hours.
Officers arrived to find Hatzolah Medical Services personnel attempting to save the child, but she died at the scene, prosecutors said. Excessive heat warnings were in place Monday for portions of New Jersey and Philadelphia, with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees in some areas.
The investigation determined the child died due to being left unattended in the car, the prosecutor said in the release.
The child’s father, Avraham Chaitovsky, 28, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, according to the release.
Chaitovsky was taken into custody, said the prosecutor. He has since been released, Ocean County Jail records show. It’s unclear whether he has retained an attorney.
In another incident, a 2-year-old girl in Arizona died after being left in a vehicle in her family’s driveway for about three hours, according to the Marana Police Department.
The girl’s father, 37-year-old Christopher Scholtes, told officers he arrived home on July 9 and left his daughter sleeping in her car seat inside the vehicle, which he said was running with the AC on, according to a news release from police. Scholtes “told detectives he did not want to wake his daughter up,” the release said.
When her mother arrived home, the girl was found in the car – which was no longer running – and the air conditioning was off. The mother performed CPR until first responders arrived. The child was taken to Banner University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Detectives used surveillance video from neighbors to determine the girl was left in the vehicle for about three hours, police said. The area was under an excessive heat warning from the National Weather Service in Tucson at the time.
And in Nebraska, a 5-year-old boy died on July 10 after being found unresponsive inside a vehicle, according to the Omaha Police Department. The boy was left unattended inside the vehicle for “an extended period of time,” police said in a news release.
His foster mother, 40-year-old Juanita Pinon, has been charged with child abuse by neglect, resulting in death, and booked into Douglas County Corrections with bond set at $2 million, according to county court records. CNN has reached out to an attorney for Pinon for comment.
Heat safety warning
Children left unattended in cars are at risk for heat stroke and possibly death – and it’s not enough to just crack a window, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
“Temperatures inside the car can rise almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit within the first 10 minutes, even with a window cracked open” and even when it feels cool outside, the agency warns.
About 1,220 people in the United States are killed by extreme heat every year, according to the CDC.
On average, 37 children under the age of 15 die each year from heatstroke after being left in a vehicle, according to the National Safety Council.
With summer off to a scorching start, health officials are reminding people to take extra care in preventing heat-related illnesses. That includes never leaving a child, disabled person or pet unattended in a car, watching for signs of heat stroke and drinking plenty of water.
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