6-month-old dies after being left in car in northern Arizona, deputies say

CORDES LAKE, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) – A 6-month-old boy died after being left alone in a car in Arizona Tuesday night.

While details about the baby’s death are limited, deputies with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said they received a report that an infant had been left in the car and likely died after 9 p.m.

The car was located in Cordes Lake, which is about 68 miles north of Phoenix.

Deputies and paramedics arrived and confirmed the death, which the department called a “tragedy.”

No other information about the baby’s death has been released.

KPHO reached out to the sheriff’s office for more information, but authorities would not confirm the infant’s death as a “hot car death.”

“I just feel sadness for the family that has to experience, going through this—losing a child this way,” said Angela Jones, an advocate for the nonprofit Kids and Car Safety.

She said she can relate to the pain the families must be feeling after she lost her 3-year-old daughter, Charlotte, in September 2019.

Jones explained her husband was on a different routine and forgot Charlotte was in the backseat of their car when he returned home.

She said it was about four hours later when he realized his daughter was still in the car.

“This is a danger that happens to loving parents all over the country,” Jones said.

Jones has been sharing her daughter’s story in hopes of raising awareness.

She said the nonprofit is working to pass a law requiring vehicles to be manufactured with sensors that alert drivers when a child or pet is left in the car.

Until the law is passed, she urges parents and guardians to practice tips that will remind them of their child in the backseat.

She said leaving a shoe, purse or cellphone in the backseat can help. She also advises that a stuffed animal or a child’s toy be left in the front seat.

Jones explained that many times, a child manages to get into an unlocked car own their own and can’t get out.

She recommends that parents always lock their vehicles and place the car keys out of a child’s reach.

“I hope that the trend will decrease and that this will stop happening because honestly, it’s just so tragic and so sad that we have to lose our beautiful children to something that is preventable,” she said.

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