Record-breaking heat has been sweeping the nation, making for a miserable summer.
It has also led to an unsettling number of heat-related deaths. According to the national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org, at least 10 children have died this year after having been left in a hot car.
Most recently, a five-year-old boy died after he was left in a hot car in Omaha, Nebraska.
According to authorities, the boy was found unresponsive outside of a beauty salon where his foster mother works.
A witness told KETV that he and Juanita Pinon, the boy’s foster mother, rushed out of the salon around 5 p.m. Wednesday and found the boy inside an SUV. CPR was performed before the boy was taken to a local hospital where he was declared dead.
Officials determined the boy had been left in the vehicle for approximately seven hours.
On Wednesday, the temperature in Omaha reached 89 degrees. When the boy was found the heat index was 88 degrees, and according to local meteorologists, it would only take 10 minutes for the inside of a vehicle to reach 100 degrees.
Pinon, 40, was arrested and charged with child abuse by neglect, resulting in death.
“The suspect did not provide a statement to declare whether it was an accident or intentional,” Omaha police spokesperson Chris Gordon told ABC News.
It breaks my heart to hear about yet another child who died because they were trapped in a hot car. What more can we do to ensure this doesn’t happen again?
