Baby found dead in car in Macedonia Walmart parking lot

MACEDONIA, Ohio -- An 8-month-old baby boy was found dead Wednesday afternoon in a car in the parking lot of a Macedonia Walmart, the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office said.

Macedonia police and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation responded Wednesday to the parking lot of the Walmart at Macedonia Commons on a report of a child found dead in a car.
Macedonia police said dispatch received a 911 call about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday saying that the boy was found in the vehicle by his grandmother, who works at Walmart.

The boy was seated in the third row of seats in an SUV, according to a statement released by the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office.

Police do not believe the baby was intentionally harmed. The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office is scheduled to perform an autopsy Thursday.

During the initial investigation, police determined that four children, including the 8-month-old boy, were driven to a day care center about 8 a.m. Wednesday, the medical examiner's office said.

A man, whose relationship to the child was not made public, dropped off three of the children but apparently forgot the baby in the car, Macedonia police Lt. Vince Yakopovich said during a press conference.

The man returned to a home in Garfield Heights after taking the children to day care. The baby's grandmother then took the car to work at Walmart about 11 a.m. without realizing the baby was still in the car, Yakopovich said.

The baby's caretakers realized that he was in the car parked at Walmart when the three other children were transported to the home in Garfield Heights by the day care center Wednesday evening, Yakopovich said.

"It's a very difficult thing. There was a large crowd here before and they were shocked. We're all shocked, it's a tragedy," Yakopovich said.

The store, located in the Macedonia Commons shopping center, remained open to shoppers. A small portion of the parking lot nearest the Home & Living Walmart entrance remained blocked off by police, fire and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation until about 8 p.m.