A 5-year-old girl is dead after being left inside a vehicle on one of the hottest days of the year in Garland, Texas, authorities confirmed Tuesday night.
Garland Police responded to a residence on Redbird Drive around 8:20 p.m. after receiving a 911 call from a family in crisis. Officers arrived to find relatives already performing CPR on the young child who was unresponsive.
The girl was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
According to Garland Police spokesperson Matt Pesta, an adult family member had returned home from school with the 5-year-old and a sibling. The sibling exited the vehicle but the young girl was not brought inside.
Pesta said the adult remained in the car briefly before going inside the house without realizing the child was still in the back seat. When the parent noticed the girl was missing, she was discovered unresponsive inside the hot vehicle. Family members immediately began CPR and dialed 911.
Tuesday was a dangerously hot day across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. DFW Airport recorded a high temperature of 104 degrees and the National Weather Service reported temperatures still sitting at 100 degrees as late as 7:53 p.m. that evening.
Heat experts warn that vehicle interiors can become deadly within minutes under such conditions. The National Safety Council states that when outside temperatures reach 95 degrees a parked car’s interior can climb to 114 degrees in just 10 minutes and as high as 129 degrees within 30 minutes.
Children are especially vulnerable because their bodies heat up three to five times faster than adults. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services heatstroke can set in when a child’s core temperature reaches 104 degrees and a core temperature of 107 degrees is considered fatal.
As of Tuesday night Garland Police had not filed any charges in connection with the girl’s death. The investigation remains active and ongoing.
The department is providing grief counseling services to the family as part of standard protocol following a traumatic incident of this nature.
Hot car deaths involving children remain a serious and recurring danger in Texas particularly during summer months when temperatures soar. Safety advocates urge parents and caregivers to always check the back seat before locking and walking away from any vehicle regardless of how brief the stop may be.
