Texas baby becomes 20th child to die in a hot car this year

A 1-year-old baby girl became the 20th child to die tragically in a hot car in 2021 after she was discovered by her mother Thursday.

The child was the second hot car-related death in Texas this year. The state ranks first in hot car deaths in the country, with 145 since 1991, according to KidsandCars.org, which tracks the fatalities and advocates for safety measures.

According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, the baby was left in the back seat of the car when her mother dropped two older children, 3 and 5, off at daycare, intending to also drop off the baby at about 8:30 a.m. The 1-year-old was discovered still in the car that evening, and was pronounced dead by medical responders over nine hours later.

The Harris County Homicide Unit will be investigating the deaths, the sheriff's office said.

A majority of this year's hot car deaths have been the result of parents or caregivers accidentally leaving their children unattended inside cars. Authorities urge adults to take extra safety precautions to avoid an accidental tragedy.

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KidsandCars.com tells parents not to intentionally leave a child alone, even with a cracked window, because the "greenhouse effect" in cars causes the temperature to rise dramatically in just 10 minutes. Cracking a window does not mitigate these factors, and children have died with outdoor temperatures as low as 60 degrees.

Also:

• Place an item in the front passenger seat that will remind you that your child is with you, such as a diaper bag.
• Place an essential item you need to start your day, such as a key, handbag or phone, in the back seat. Make it a habit of opening the back door every time you drive.
• Ask a child care provider to alert you immediately if your child has not arrived to school or daycare as scheduled.

Earlier this month 20-month-old twin boys were found dead inside a car in the parking lot of a South Carolina daycare after likely being there for more than nine hours. 

"If this was an unfortunate accident, we pray the family can find peace. But if it was a criminal act, we will help seek justice for these babies," Richland County Coroner Nadia Rutherford said at a conference about the deaths.

In other cases this year, children got into cars themselves, raising advocates' calls for occupant detection technology in new vehicles.

Hot Cars Act:Can technology help prevent child death in sweltering cars?

Another set of twin boys, 3 years old, were found unresponsive in a hot car in Minnesota earlier this summer. One child survived but the other was pronounced dead after being airlifted to a hospital. They were believed to have climbed into the car on their own, authorities said.

KidsandCars.com is advocating for the passage of the Hot Cars Act, which would make it standard for all new cars to include technology designed to alert drivers if a child is left unattended.