A Florida babysitter has been charged with manslaughter after the 10-month-old baby in her care died after being left in a hot car Wednesday, the Baker County Sheriff’s Office said.
Rhonda Jewell, 48, picked up the baby from her mother’s house at 8 a.m. to care for him, and when the mother returned at 1 p.m., they realized the baby had been left inside the vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
Temperatures in the area were 97 degrees shortly before 1 p.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
A sheriff’s incident report says the temperature inside the car registered at 133 degrees when the boy was found. Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate WTLV reported.
On an 80 degree day, the temperature in a car can rise to 123 degrees in 60 minutes, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were no extreme heat watches or warnings Thursday night in the Baker County area, which is west of Jacksonville. The incident occurred as millions of people in the South and Southwest were under a potentially deadly heat wave.
More than 119 million people in the US, including in parts of Florida, were under heat advisories or excessive heat warnings Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.
About 40 children die each year from heat stroke after being left behind or trapped in vehicles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
About 53% of them die when someone forgets that a child is in a car, the agency warns. Parents should get in the habit of always checking the backseat before closing the doors, and everyone should always keep cars locked when they’re not being driven, she says.
Jewell was arrested on one count of aggravated homicide of a child, the sheriff’s office said.
The other children she was caring for were well cared for, according to the sheriff’s office incident report.
Jewell told investigators that after he got home, he went inside to interact with the other children and forgot the boy was inside the vehicle, the report says.
An attorney listed in online court records as representing Jewell did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Thursday.
