Police: 2-year-old dead after parents left her in hot car in far northeast Dallas

A 2-year-old girl died Friday evening after her parents left her strapped in a hot car, Dallas police said Saturday.

Police have not filed charges on the girl’s parents for now, but continue to investigate.

The parents told investigators that they had spent the day at Fair Park with their children and had gone inside their home in the 11900 Garden Terrace Drive when they got back. They told police they thought all the children had come inside.

The parents said they took a nap, and the father only saw the girl, still strapped into her safety seat, when he went outside after he awoke to go work on his car.

Police said the father pulled the girl out of the car and called 911 while the mother performed CPR on the girl.

The girl was pronounced dead at 7:19 p.m. at Medical City Dallas Hospital.

It’s not clear how many children the couple have.

Police said Child Protective Services is involved. A spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police: Dallas Child Dies After Being Left in Car

Posted: Jul 18, 2015 2:42 PM PDT
Updated: Jul 18, 2015 2:42 PM PDT

DALLAS (WFAA) -- Dallas police are investigating the death of a two-year-old child who was allegedly left behind in a family car on Friday.

According to Child Abuse Unit investigators, the parents of two-year-old Nariyah Raufu explained they had returned from a day at Fair Park with their children and went inside their duplex in the 11900 block of Garden Terrace Drive on Friday afternoon to take a nap.

"[Nariyah's] parents stated that they believed all children had exited the vehicle when they returned home," police spokeswoman Senior Cpl. Melinda Gutierrez said in a written statement.

Nariyah's father later went outside to work on his car and said he found her strapped in a child safety seat.

"He immediately removed the child from the vehicle and took her inside where he called 911 as the mother performed CPR for approximately 30 minutes," Gutierrez said.

The police spokeswoman said the mother then drove Nariyah to Children's Medical Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m.

The National Weather Service said the high temperature at Love Field in Dallas reached 98 degrees on Friday afternoon. KidsandCars.org says on average, 38 children die each year from heat-related deaths after being trapped in vehicles.

Child Protective Services has been alerted, but no charges have been filed against Nariyah's parents, police said.