A 6-month-old boy died Friday after being left in a hot car for nearly nine hours in the parking lot of a suburban San Antonio Wal-Mart.
The baby’s father, who works at the Helotes store, told investigators that he forgot to drop his son off at daycare, said Helotes police Capt. Anthony Burgess.
The baby was left in the father’s SUV from 6:15 a.m. to 3:09 p.m., when the father came out of work and discovered the child in the back seat, Burgess said.
Police and fire department crews responded, but couldn’t save the boy. Burgess said the father is not currently facing charges.
The father, who was hospitalized, was extremely shaken, but cooperative with police, according to NBC affiliate WOAI. He has not been named, but the baby has been identified by the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office as 6-month-old Dillon Martinez, the station reported.
The outside temperature in Helotes was more than 100 degrees on Friday, WOAI reported, and the temperature in a parked car can become fatal on even a 60-degree day, according to KidsandCars.org.
The child safety advocacy group reported that Friday’s incident marks the 27th hot car-related death of a child this year. Last year, 25 children died of heatstroke after being left in hot cars.