Fennell said the death toll isn't improving ‒ the number of children who died in hot cars this year is about on par for what she's seen in recent years. 'We have lost way too many children,' said Janette Fennell, founder and president of advocacy group Kids and Car Safety. The child died as temperature rose to more than 133 degrees in the vehicle, police said.

She said she realized the baby was still in the car when her mother came to pick her up several hours later. On Tuesday, a Florida babysitter said she forgot a 10-month-old baby girl in a car when she went inside to watch other children.

That's where some of the most devastating tragedies unfold when children are inadvertently left behind.Īt least 14 children have died in hot cars so far in 2023, bringing to 1,000 the number who have died that way during the past three decades. If there's anything hotter than the record-breaking temperatures felt across much of the United States in recent weeks, it's the temperature inside a car parked outside in the sweltering heat.