PINEVILLE, N.C.—Authorities are charging a North Carolina foster mother in the death of a 1-year-old boy who was left inside a hot car in a shopping center parking lot.
News outlets report Pineville police say warrants charge 42-year-old Dawn Aberson-Vanden Broecke with involuntary manslaughter. Police say Broecke has cooperated with investigators and is expected to turn herself in to police.
Dawn Aberson-Vanden Broecke, of North Carolina, was charged on Sept. 3 with involuntary manslaughter in the case, reported the Charlotte Observer.
The boy, who was not named, was found in his car seat in a car parked at a Lowe’s store at the McMullen Creek Market shopping center on Pineville-Matthews Road. The Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled of died of hyperthermia.
The 42-year-old foster mother is being charged with involuntary manslaughter. Police said she is expected to turn herself in. | Foster mother charged in death of baby left in hot car at NC shopping center>> https://t.co/PcQaC2hpeC pic.twitter.com/zvoVgsMpVg
— Live5News (@Live5News) September 4, 2019
According to police, officers responding to a 911 call last Thursday found the child unresponsive in his child seat. They said the woman had left the baby in the car and gone to work at a store at the shopping center. Police said the child had been left in the car “for a prolonged period.”
Emergency personnel performed life-saving measures, but the baby was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Children Heatstroke Deaths
According to Kids and Cars, 132 children died from non-traffic fatalities in 2018. Of those, 52 died from heatstroke. The data was for children 14 years old or younger.
According to the No Heat Stroke organization, 32 child vehicular heatstroke deaths have taken place so far this year and 829 have taken place since 1998.