Twins left in hot car for 3.5 hours at
Oxford dealership; 1 dead, 1 OK
One of
two infants left for hours in a vehicle at an Oxford car dealership Friday
has died.
Oxford Police Chief Bill Partridge said police and
firefighters were called to Sunny King Honda at 11:54 a.m. When they arrived
on the scene, they learned that 11-month-old twins, a boy and girl, had been
inside the vehicle for three hours and 26 minutes.
The parent is an
employee at the dealership. The male child was pronounced dead. The female
child is fine, Partridge said.
As of Sept. 21, 43 children have died
in hot cars nationwide in 2019. Only one of those has happened in Alabama.
Castiel King, 2, died in July when police say he slipped out of his
Dothan house and got trapped in the family’s vehicle. Authorities said his
parents were under the influence of marijuana at the time. They have been
charged with manslaughter.
The temperature on Friday was in the
mid-90s. Experts say vehicles heat up fast, and the inside of a car can
reach dangerous temperatures in a matter of minutes. On a 90-degree day, the
interior temperature can approach 110 degrees in just 10 minutes. After half
an hour, it can be well above 120. But that’s just the temperature of the
air in shaded areas of the car.
Partridge said the investigation is
ongoing. “It’s a scene you don’t want to respond to,’’ the chief said. “It’s
one of those things that will stay with you for the rest of your life.”