Arizona girl, 3, died in blisteringly hot car after dad forgot she was buckled in seat

A three-year-old girl tragically died in a sweltering hot car after her father forgot she was still strapped into her car seat in their driveway.

Little Charlotte Jones was off sick on the day her father, Scott, drove her and her sister to school for the usual drop-off. However, when he returned home with his unwell daughter still in the back of their car, he forgot that she hadn't been dropped off at school that morning.

Sadly, Scott started work in his home office at their Arizona residence , where temperatures had risen to a scorching 98F (36C), only realising his beloved daughter was still in the car when his wife called to check on them four hours later. In a heartbreaking account, mum Angela described how her husband's voice changed over the phone when he realised his error.

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Angela said: "All of a sudden I could just hear a panic in his voice," she told Fox News Digital. She continued: "I initially thought she had gotten into the pool or something like that, and then he was like, 'Oh, my God, I don't think I ever got her out of the car'. Then it hit him what has happening and he ran out into the driveway."

Scott immediately dialled 911, but it was too late as his daughter had succumbed to the heat and passed away in the car. Janette Fennell, the founder of Kids and Car Safety, a group that collects data on child hot car deaths, says about 55% of child hot car deaths can be attributed to children being unknowingly left in vehicles.

Fennell highlighted that while deaths of children in front car seats have significantly decreased due to the banning of such seats, the number of children dying from vehicular heatstroke has increased and remains high. The group has documented at least 1,083 hot car deaths from 1990 through 2023, with 29 deaths last year and 36 deaths in 2022.

These incidents are most common during the summer months.

In a recent incident this week, two parents from Indiana were arrested after allegedly leaving their children inside an SUV amidst soaring temperatures. The couple reportedly went into Walmart on Monday evening to run some errands, leaving their children in the vehicle which quickly began to heat up as they had left the air conditioning off, the windows up and the doors locked.

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Within a few minutes, the temperature inside the vehicle had soared to around 125 degrees Fahrenheit - a temperature comparable to the lower settings of most ovens. According to the Lawrence Police Department, the children were left in the SUV for approximately 40 minutes, after which officers were called to the scene, arriving around 7.pm EDT.

A passerby had noticed the children locked inside the non-running vehicle and dialled 911.

The police reported that one child was sweating heavily, while the other appeared dazed. Their ages were not disclosed. The children were rescued and both were confirmed to be safe by the authorities.

The parents, Mirianne Pierre and Watson Joseph, were taken into custody and detained at the Marion County jail, charged with two counts each of neglect of a dependent - essentially child neglect - all of which are deemed as serious crimes.

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Consequently, their children were placed under the care of the Department of Child Services. In a statement to local station WXIN, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Sgt.

Anthony Patterson advised: "We never want to leave our kids unattended, much less when it's hot outside. The moment we shut that engine off, the temperatures rise really rapidly."

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