(MADISONVILLVE, La.) — A Louisiana dad has been arrested for second-degree murder after he allegedly left his 1-year-old daughter in a hot car for over nine hours, authorities said.
The incident unfolded after Joseph Boatman “consumed multiple alcoholic beverages” and then went to pick up his 21-month-old daughter from a relative’s house shortly after 2:30 a.m. Sunday, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
Boatman, 32, allegedly strapped his daughter into her car seat, went inside the Madisonville home and didn’t return to the car, the sheriff’s office said.
More than nine hours later, deputies were sent to the house after a family member found the toddler unresponsive in the car, authorities said.
The temperature in Madisonville climbed to 95 degrees on Sunday; the heat index — what temperature it feels like — reached 105 degrees.
“This is a devastating loss that no family ever wants to face,” Sheriff Randy Smith said in a statement. “When a child is left in a vehicle, especially on a day when the heat index climbs over 100 degrees, the outcome can turn deadly in a matter of minutes. This case involved compromised judgment, and the result was heartbreaking.”
The girl is the fifth child to die in a hot car in the U.S. this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.
On average, 38 children die in hot cars every year in the U.S. About 88% of them are 3 years old or younger, KidsAndCars.org said.
Click here for hot car safety tips to keep in mind this summer.
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