Heat suspected in
death of Coram girl, 11, found in car
A Coram
11-year-old girl found in the back seat of the family's SUV Tuesday died
despite her mother's efforts to revive her in what appears to be a
heat-related tragedy, Suffolk police said.
The mother and her three
daughters had returned home from errands when at some point she realized one
of the girls was missing from their Kathleen Crescent house, homicide Det.
Lt. Keven Beyrer said.
“The mother and two other kids were running
errands doing day to day things," he said. "The kid was in the back seat . .
. They went into the house and at some point in time realized that the
11-year-old was still in the car.”
Rushing to the Ford Expedition,
the mother found her daughter in the back seat, her lips already blue, she
told 911 about 3:50 p.m., and after carrying her inside the house, the woman
followed life-saving instructions from Sixth Precinct officers and EMTS,
police said.
But her efforts, and those of police and Coram fire
department paramedics, were futile. She was pronounced dead at Stony Brook
University Hospital, police said.
"It’s a tragedy," Beyrer said.
"It’s similar to a drowning. It's something that doesn’t happen every day.
It’s an unspeakable tragedy."
Homicide detectives were trying to
determine how long the girl was in the vehicle on a day with scorching heat.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the New York
region from late Tuesday morning to 9 p.m. Wednesday.