Officials remark on tragic death of toddler left in hot vehicle during heat wave

BATON ROUGE - Baton Rouge Police detectives are awaiting a coroner's report about the exact cause of death for a child found dead in a hot car Friday.

Police said Saturday morning, detectives were continuing to investigate and were awaiting details from an autopsy.

The child's name has not been released.

During a Saturday morning interview with News 2's Earl Phelps, Baton Rouge EMS Supervisor, Mike Chustz confirmed that the child was dead when EMS/Frist responders arrived.

Chustz said, "It doesn't take long, I would say five to ten minutes, before a child would start suffering some serious heat, exhaustion symptoms, and shortly thereafter become unconscious."

Chustz says this is Baton Rouge's only case of a child passing away due to being left in a hot car, during 2021.

He added, "One is too many... it's tragedy to see this happen."

Sources told WBRZ Friday, the child was a girl believed to be about a year old. The child was found dead in a car on Oak Grove Drive, which is located in a neighborhood just off N Sherwood Forest Drive.

Neighbors in the area told News 2's Earl Phelps the home operates as a day care.

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