Marietta Toddler Dead After Discovered in Hot Car

A 2-year-old Marietta boy died shortly after he was discovered inside a hot car Tuesday night, Cobb Police report.

At 5:36 p.m. Cobb Police responded to a call that a child was found unresponsive inside a vehicle at 884 Wanda Circle, near Jim Miller Park.

The toddler was rushed to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Sgt. Eric Smith said in a news conference Wednesday.

Smith said the investigation into the toddler’s death is being led by the department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit, but police are unclear as to why the boy was in the vehicle.

“At this time, there is no evidence to suggest the child was left inside the vehicle,” Smith said. “No criminal charges have been filed at this time.”

Smith was unable to confirm how long the boy had been inside the vehicle or the car’s interior temperature.

In a Wednesday afternoon phone call with the MDJ, Smith confirmed the toddler was a resident of the Wanda Circle home.

In a brief statement Wednesday morning, Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer asked the community to extend grace and support as police work to uncover more details about the child’s death.

“If I was in the position of this father, mother, sibling, friend, I would want a lot of grace right now and a lot of support. And that’s what I would ask of our community,” VanHoozer said. “… We don’t know, right now, whether or not criminal charges are warranted, or whether or not outrage is warranted. But we do know that support is warranted.”

According to Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting vehicle safety, the toddler is the sixth child in the country to die in a hot car this year, and the first in Georgia.

The nonprofit said since 1993, 46 children have died in hot cars in Georgia, making it the fifth highest state for hot car deaths in the country.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Cobb Police’s Crimes Against Persons Unit at 770-499-3945.