Authorities said a 1-year-old girl died after being left by her grandmother in the backseat of her car Monday in Smithtown, N.Y., for eight hours.
The Suffolk County Police said in a news statement obtained by PEOPLE that the woman forgot to drop off the 14-month-old toddler at a daycare center in Redwood Lane en route to her job. About eight hours later, the grandmother arrived at the daycare center to pick up her granddaughter and realized that the child has been left in the parked vehicle, police further said in the statement.
The little girl, later identified in media reports as Chyasia Evans, was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. A vigil was held Tuesday in the parking spot where the girl died. Among those present was Chyasia’s mother, Jessica Watkins, who was clutching an Elmo doll, NBC New York reports.
1-Year-Old Dies After Being Left in Hot Car Outside Hospital for 9 Hours
“I know you’re going to be my guardian angel,” Watkins said, per NBC New York. “I’ll love you until we meet again, my baby.”
“I am so defeated,” she added. “I don’t know what to do.”
Chyasia’s aunt told NBC New York that the child’s temperature had risen to 106 degrees by the time she was found in the car. She also said the daycare center never notified the family that the child was not dropped off there.
The high temperature in Smithtown Monday was 83 degrees, per CNN.
Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the case, said the department in the news statement, and no charges have been filed at this time in connection with the child’s death.
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Source: HIS Education