With temperatures in the 100s, it’s unfathomable that a mother would leave her 5-year-old boy in a car while she was making preparations for her daughter’s birthday party, but that’s what happened in Houston, Texas at the end of June. 

The mother, Amanda Means, and her two children had gone to a store to buy party supplies, and in a hurry when she got home, she left her son in the car and went into her house with her 8-year-old daughter, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. She may have assumed that the child had left the vehicle on his own at the same time as she and her daughter did.

Several hours later, the mom realized her son was still in the car. 

Apparently, the car was a rental, and sadly, the child may not have been able to unlock the seat belt and the door, even though the mom said he had been able to unbuckle himself in the past. 

“This time the child didn’t make it out and again with the business of the activities that they were preparing for, it took a while for them to notice that the child wasn’t in the house,” Gonzalez told local news reporters.

Responders at the scene pronounced the boy dead.

Temperatures in Houston were as high as 101 degrees at the time. 

Police are investigating the incident and the district attorney’s office will decide whether to press charges against the mother. In a statement, the child’s father said that he believed his wife left the boy accidentally. 

The National Safety Council says that 38 children under the age of 15 die every year from heat stroke as a result of being left in a vehicle. Children can suffer heat stroke when their body temperature reaches 104 degrees. A child’s body temperature rises faster than adults, and a body temperature of 107 degrees can be fatal.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that parents or caregivers should never leave their children in a car unattended, even if the air conditioning is on or a window is open. People should always check the back seat of a car before leaving it, when transporting children in their care.

Perhaps car makers are considering having a recording play when a car is exited: “Please make sure to take your car keys, your belongings and your children with you.”