Florida parents leave baby in car to go to church, police say

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An 11-month-old is dead after police say her parents accidentally left the girl in a car when they went to church.

The call came to police around 1 p.m. Sunday for an unresponsive baby at the Mount of Olives Evangelical Baptist Church on Babcock Street in Palm Bay.

According to police, she had been left in the vehicle for around three hours while the parents attended a service at the church.

Palm Bay police in a statement saying that when officers arrived, the baby was in a vehicle unresponsive and transported to Palm Bay Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

"This is an unfortunate incident, and our condolences and prayers go out to the family," Palm Bay Police Chief Mario Augello said.

While the investigation into what exactly happened in Palm Bay is ongoing, it's good for all parents to be reminded of ways to keep their families safe.

According to KidsAndCars.org, Florida is number two in the nation for child hot car deaths.

"We know that a car can heat up 20 degrees above the outside temperature within 10 minutes," said Dr. Kevin Campbell of Health First.

So if it's 80 degrees outside, after a little more than 10 minutes you’re already in the danger zone.

"If a child gets to be 104 degrees, that's when their temperature can cause problems. And you can start to see heat stroke. And above 107 degrees and we can see death," Campbell said.

"The most important thing for people to know is that it can happen to absolutely anyone. There's no norm to it," said Jeanne Fennell, the president and founder of KidsAndCars.org.

Ways to stay safe for family members:

Nationally, about 38 children are lost to hot car deaths each year and there's concern that after a dip during COVID-19, this summer might see the numbers rebound.

The investigation is still ongoing. Police did not say whether they expect to file charges.

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