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One week, 2 tragedies: How hot car deaths happened in Broward, how to prevent them

By Produced using AI, based on original work by Olivia Lloyd
Two children died in separate hot car incidents in Broward County within a week.
Two children died in separate hot car incidents in Broward County within a week. Sophia Bolivar Miami Herald file photo

A 2-year-old left in a vehicle by a babysitter in Hallandale Beach became the second child to die in a hot car in Broward County within seven days.

The tragedies come as temperatures regularly push heat index values in South Florida into triple digits with the worst of the summer months still ahead.

FULL STORY: Toddler left in car by babysitter becomes 2nd hot car death in Broward in a week

A toddler left in a vehicle in Hallandale Beach died at a hospital six days after a similar incident in Plantation, authorities said.
A toddler left in a vehicle in Hallandale Beach died at a hospital six days after a similar incident in Plantation, authorities said. Getty Images/iStockphoto

Here are key takeaways:

  • Hallandale Beach police responded to a hospital at 1:35 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, after a babysitter reportedly left a 2-year-old in a vehicle outside a home. Medical staff pronounced the child dead.
  • Hallandale Beach Police Chief Michel Michel urged every parent, grandparent, guardian, babysitter and caregiver to always check the back seat before locking a vehicle, suggesting placing a phone or purse in the back as a reminder.
  • Six days earlier, a father arrived at a daycare center in Plantation to pick up his son, only for staff to say the child had never been dropped off. That’s when the father realized his son had been in the backseat the whole time. First responders confirmed the boy dead in the daycare center’s parking lot at 5:39 p.m. on Monday, June 29.
  • Kids and Car Safety reports 10 children have died in hot cars nationwide as of July 6, including four in Florida.
  • The nonprofit advises caregivers to place personal items in the backseat as reminders and ask daycare staff to call if a child is not dropped off.

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists.

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