WICHITA, Kan. — Police say a 10-month-old girl died after being left in a hot car outside a house in south Wichita, Kan.
Officers found the girl unresponsive inside the car Thursday evening. She was pronounced dead a short time later.
Police say the girl had been in the car for about two hours. She was a foster child of two men who lived in a house where the car was parked. They were taken in for questioning. At least one has been booked into jail on aggravated child endangerment charges.
“We looked at all the facts of it,” Lt. Todd Ojile with Wichita police said. “With all the facts we had last night during our investigation, I decided that the endangerment was a charge with, like I said, it’s just a booking [charge] right now, doesn’t mean that he is charged with it or will be charged by the district attorney’s office. We’ll present those facts next week.”
The National Weather Service says the high temperature was 90 degrees on Thursday.
On Friday, Secretary Phyllis Gilmore of the Kansas Department for Children and Families responded to the incident by saying she is “deeply saddened and outraged” by the 10-month-old’s horrific death.
“I am absolutely devastated by this child’s death that should have been prevented,” said Secretary Gilmore. “DCF is working closely with local law enforcement and the Sedgwick County District Attorney to ensure that justice is served and that the integrity of the investigation is not compromised by the release of confidential information.”
The Secretary has launched a thorough investigation into how the child was put into such an “unthinkable situation.”
“I want to assure Kansans that we are doing everything we can to uphold our agency’s mission to protect children. Children in need of care deserve safe, loving homes,” Secretary Gilmore said.
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