3-year-old boy locked in hot car dies after being hospitalized in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 3-year-old boy who was locked in a hot car in Lancaster, South Carolina on Wednesday has died, according to an official at Carolinas Medical Center.

Authorities told WSOC-TV that Logan Cox suffered severe heat stroke after climbing into a car when his parents did not see him. It was announced Sunday that he died.

Teresa Clevinger, the victim’s grandmother, said the boy woke up from a nap and walked outside her home on Walnut Road while his parents were napping.

The boy and a dog got into his mother’s car and shut the door, then could not get back out, Clevinger said.

“This was an accident. It has never happened before and it’ll never happen again,” Clevinger said.

In the 911 call obtained by WSOC-TV, Clevinger can be heard telling the dispatcher she didn’t know how long the boy had been outside in the car.

During the call, his parents had him in the bathtub putting cold water on him, trying to bring his temperature down.

The dispatcher asked if they had a thermometer in the home to take his temperature. Clevinger replied that they did not.

On Thursday, Clevinger told WSOC-TV the child was in the car for about 30 minutes.

The boy’s mother fell asleep on the couch and didn’t know he was gone, Clevinger said.

“She was looking for him because she didn’t see him in the house and she was hollering for him, and he didn’t answer her,” she said.

Then the boy’s mother noticed the blinkers flashing on her car and found the boy slumped over inside it, Clevinger said.

The dog that jumped into the car with the boy was dead.

A Lancaster County sheriff’s detective and a Department of Social Services case agent spoke with the boy’s parents on Wednesday night.