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The girl’s mother has been charged with murder more than three months after her daughter’s death.
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A 9-year-old girl who died in a hot car while her mother worked for eight hours had been given melatonin to help her sleep, Texas authorities say.
When 36-year-old Gbemisola Akayinode went to check on her daughter after her shift ended July 1 in Harris County, the 9-year-old did not respond to her commands, according to a criminal complaint.
Akayinode, according to the court documents, thought her daughter was pretending to sleep. It wasn’t until she opened the door when she found her daughter “a shade of blue with no signs of life,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said.
The mother began screaming for help, and her co-workers called 911, authorities said. Her daughter was taken to a hospital, where Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said she was pronounced dead.
“A 9-year-old, beautiful little girl has lost her life,” Gonzalez said during a news conference, McClatchy News reported in July.
Now, Akayinode is charged with murder in the death of her daughter, court records show. She was jailed Oct. 19 on $500,000 bail.
Authorities said July 1 was the second consecutive day Akayinode left her daughter in her vehicle as she worked an 8-hour shift.
On June 30 after they returned home, the girl was given melatonin to help her sleep, according to the sheriff’s office.
Akayinode equipped her daughter with “packed food, rechargeable fan, a muffin, water and ice cubes” as she took her to work again July 1, leaving back windows partially down. She also gave her another dose of melatonin, and she said she watched her begin to fall asleep before starting her work shift.
After leaving her daughter at 5:35 a.m., Akayinode did not return until 1:53 p.m., according to the court documents. By then, it was too late.
The 9-year-old had a body temperature of 108 degrees and died of hyperthermia, a medical examiner ruled, authorities said.
It was 99 degrees outside the day of the girl’s death, with Akayinode’s car reading 97.4 degrees three hours later after the sun already went down, investigators said.
Akayinode later told a friend she was unable to check on her daughter because she was “working a lot,” according to the court records.
“I’m sorry, I know what I did,” she told her friend, according to authorities.
Interviewed by investigators, Akayinode said it was the fourth time she had left her daughter in her car while she worked. She said she was unable to pay for day care, but she planned on returning the 9-year-old to day care after she received her next pay check, investigators said.
Deputies said Akayinode blamed her daughter’s death on her new ADHD medication, which she was given the morning of her death along with the melatonin.
Hot car deaths
More than 1,000 children have died in hot cars since 1998, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“About 37 children a year die from heatstroke, either because they were left or became trapped in a car. During the summer, that’s about two children every week killed in a hot car.”
Hot car deaths are most common in the summer, but they can happen at any time, according to the administration. The first “vehicular heatstroke” of the year typically happens in March.
“Leaving a window open is not enough — temperatures inside the car can rise almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit within the first 10 minutes, even with a window cracked open,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
If you see a child alone in a vehicle, officials said you should make sure the child is responsive and if not, immediately call 911.
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Mike Stunson
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