A two-year-old girl tragically lost her life in Holmes County, Florida, after being left unattended in her mother’s hot vehicle for over 12 hours. 

This devastating incident marks the fourth child fatality in the United States this year, resulting from being left in a hot car.

Authorities charged the toddler’s parents, Kathreen Adams, 23, and Christopher McLean, 32, with child neglect and possession of drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine. However, pending the results of an autopsy conducted on Wednesday, additional charges may be filed, according to law enforcement officials.

Reportedly, the child’s body temperature was 107 degrees. 

Holmes County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence in the county following a 911 welfare check just before 4 pm on Tuesday, May 16. Upon arrival, officers discovered Adams cradling her unresponsive child. The distressed mother claimed to have found the child unresponsive inside their home, expressing confusion regarding the circumstances.

Emergency medical services immediately initiated life-saving measures, but the child was pronounced dead at 3:59 pm.

During the investigation and questioning of the mother, inconsistencies emerged in her account, raising suspicions among investigators. At a press conference, Holmes County Sheriff John Tate said that the father was uncooperative during the interrogation.

Adams later admitted that she had retrieved her children from a babysitter at midnight and chose to leave them inside the vehicle. The four-year-old child successfully got out of the car, and the Department of Children and Families has assumed custody of that child. 

According to Tate, they left the toddler in the car, went indoors, and eventually fell asleep without realizing or awakening to the fact that the child remained inside the vehicle until approximately 3:41 pm. They went outside and found the girl unresponsive.

The couple’s potential homicide charges, if any, will be determined following the autopsy results. This marks the fourth hot car fatality nationwide in 2023 and the second in Florida. According to Kids and Car Safety, a renowned nonprofit child safety organization, Florida has experienced 111 reported child hot car deaths, ranking second in the nation between 1990 and 2022.