A 2-year-old Dallas girl died when she was left in a hot car after the family had returned from the park on a day the temperatures reached in the upper 90s. The coroner said her death was an accident, but police aren't sure.
Nariyah Raufu was pronounced dead at Children's Medical Center in Dallas at 7:05 p.m. Friday,
according to WFAA-TV. The temperatures at Love Field airport topped out at 98 degrees that day, according to the National Weather Service.
"(Nariyah's) parents stated that they believed all children had exited the vehicle when they returned home," said Dallas Police Department Senior Cpl. Melinda Gutierrez in a
statement, adding that the girl's father discovered the child still in her seat when he walked back outside to work on the vehicle.
"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," said Gutierrez.
The medical examiner's office ruled the girl's death an accident on Sunday,
reported the Dallas Morning News, but police continued to investigate the incident for possible criminal charges. An autopsy showed that Raufu died of hyperthermia, or heat stroke.
Investigators said they believed the girl was alone in the vehicle for at least an hour and a half,
reported KTVT-TV.
"I forgot to count each and every one of my babies," said Khalilah Busby, the mother of the girl and six other children. She said she believed all of her children were inside napping.
"Somebody told me that everyone was in the house, I took that," said Busby. "I took that for granted."
The website
Kidsandcars.org reports that 194 children died nationwide in non-traffic vehicle fatalities in 2014, 32 resulting from heat stroke. The site said 71 children died from being hit while the vehicle was backing up and another 63 while the vehicle was moving forward.
The 32 heatstroke-related deaths in 2014 were down from 44 similar deaths reported around the country in 2013. There were a total of 47 heatstroke deaths related to nonvehicle traffic child deaths in 2010.
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