Girl, 9, Dies After Mom Leaves Her in Car in Texas Parking Lot and Goes to Work for 8 Hours

A 9-year-old woman is dormant aft her mother allegedly near her successful a car successful nan Texas power and went to work, authorities said.

On Tuesday, July 1, constabulary received a telephone astatine 2:06 p.m. section clip of an unresponsive kid successful a achromatic Toyota Camry astatine nan 1200 artifact of Mayo Shell Road successful Galena Park. The young woman was transported to a section infirmary wherever she was pronounced dead, nan Harris County Sheriff’s Office said successful a connection shared connected Facebook. 

“I’m highly upset and disappointed that a 9-year-old, beautiful small woman has mislaid her life by nary responsibility of her own,” said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez astatine a property conference.  "There's ne'er an excuse to time off a kid unattended," he said.

The 36-year-old mother allegedly near her girl successful nan car successful nan parking batch of nan manufacturing works wherever she works. The mom kept nan windows partially down and near h2o successful nan vehicle, Gonzalez said. Her modular displacement is from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Authorities said it’s unclear if nan small woman was checked connected passim nan time aliases if she exited nan car earlier nan aesculapian crisis. The car was backed up successful nan parking batch and a sun visor successful nan car’s windshield whitethorn person prevented passersby from seeing nan small woman inside, Gonzalez said. He noted that, astatine nan clip of nan news conference, it was astir 97 degrees outside. 

“Any magnitude of clip tin beryllium very vulnerable and moreover fatal for a mini child,” nan sheriff said of nan dangers of leaving children successful basking cars. (In 2024, 39 children died of heatstroke erstwhile they were near successful basking cars, according to nan National Safety Council.) 

“A child’s somesthesia increases astatine a overmuch higher complaint than an adult,” he continued.

When nan female returned to her conveyance astatine nan extremity of her shift, she recovered her girl unresponsive, officials said. The telephone for thief was placed soon thereafter. 

The mother was primitively detained by police, but was later released arsenic they await nan autopsy results, ABC News reported.

Detectives person continued to question and reply nan mother to amended understand her reasoning for leaving nan kid successful nan conveyance and a timeline of events, but nan Harris County District Attorney's Office will find immoderate charges related to nan tragic incident, according to nan outlet. An investigation is ongoing.

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The Harris County District Attorney's Office and nan Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences did not instantly respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

Gonzalez said it wasn’t clear if a deficiency of childcare prompted nan mother to time off her girl successful nan car.

“We tin beryllium sympathetic to nan truth that there’s hardship, you know, it’s not mislaid connected maine that there’s group going done reliable times,” nan sheriff said. “Maybe she has to make ends meet and keep, you know, nutrient connected nan table."

But, he added, “The constituent is nan consequence of decease aliases harm, there’s conscionable nary reconciling that successful my mind.”