A mental lapse proved fatal for a Florida father, who believed he dropped off his toddler at daycare, but later realized that he left the 23-month-old in a blistering vehicle.
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The child was found dead Monday inside an SUV outside A World of Discovery Academy. Temperatures in Plantation reached a high of 94 degrees on Monday, with the afternoon heat index at 102 degrees, according to AccuWeather.
The Plantation Police Department and Plantation Fire Department responded at approximately 5:39 PM Monday to a report of an unresponsive child inside a vehicle at the early childhood education center.
Firefighters pronounced the child dead at the scene.
"Upon arrival, Plantation Fire Department sadly confirmed the child was deceased," police said.
The family-owned academy is a bilingual early childhood education center that offers programs for children aged 3 months to 4 years, according to its website.
Daycare Owner Speaks on Tragedy
Leslie Novoa, the academy's director and owner, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that she knew the family and the child well.
"This is a tragedy that happened to them and to all of us," she said.
The child was an 18-month-old boy who attended the school. He had an older sibling who also attended. The family had been with the daycare center for six years, Novoa told the outlet.
"They are a very loving and caring family," she said Tuesday morning.
Novoa said the father came to the daycare to pick up his son before the daunting realization that the child had never been dropped off.
"Unfortunately, the dad arrived to pick up his child. And when he arrived at the parking lot, he realized he forgot the child," she said. "He never dropped off the child at the school."
Tragically, nearly 40 children die in hot cars every year in the US on average. The vast majority of children who have died in hot cars are age 3 or younger, according to a fact sheet from Kids and Cars.
The organization says roughly half of those deaths occur after a parent or caregiver unintentionally leaves a child inside a vehicle.
Plantation police said the circumstances surrounding the child's death remain under investigation.
