Safety is always at the top of parents’ minds. It seems that around every corner is a new hazard they must be on the lookout for. From choking hazards, gun-related incidents, car accidents and drownings that are more prevalent than ever before, the statistics are enough to send any parent into a spiral.
This week in Arizona, a family is suffering through the reality of one of those unthinkable fears after the father of a 2-year-old girl left her in a car parked in their Arizona driveway. In a summer that saw record-breaking heat, the father told police he left the child in the parked car with the engine running because he did not want to wake her. The father was allegedly distracted by video games and putting away groceries. He was occupied for about three hours before he checked on the little girl, according to reporting from national news outlets.
Police investigating the child’s death say that the father – who has since been charged with second-degree murder and child abuse related to his daughter’s death – regularly left the little girl and her two older brothers in the car and added that he knew the car would shut off when in park for more than 30 minutes. The temperature in Arizona on the day of the child’s death had reached 109 degrees.
Unfortunately, this incident is not an isolated one. At least 15 children die every year from heat strokes in hot cars, according to data from the National Security Council. Since 1998, every state has had at least one child die from being left in a hot car. In 2018 and 2019, a record number of children died from being left unattended in hot cars. Over 50 children’s lives were lost in those years.
In Florida, a state known for its sweltering weather, about 111 children have died from being left in hot cars since 1998. A report analyzing data from 1990 from Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit group focusing on the issue, stated that Florida was the state with the second-highest fatality rate for children in hot cars. May through September were the months with the highest death rate, according to the data.
Sunday in Hollywood, Florida, police rescued a screaming child from a hot car that was left with the window cracked open. The mother had allegedly left her child in the car, which did not have the engine running, so she could go shopping, according to police.
In Florida, it is illegal to leave a child unattended in a hot vehicle. Leaving a child unattended for over 15 minutes will result in misdemeanor charges and a felony if that child suffers significant bodily harm, permanent injury or disfigurement.
In April, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on Senate Bill 554, also known as Ariya’s Law. Ariya’s Law, a bill named for 10-month-old Ariya Page who died after being left in a hot car in Baker County, Florida, by a babysitter, would designate April as the awareness month for preventing children’s deaths in hot cars.
In its 48 years representing clients in Florida, Leesfield & Partners has handled countless cases of severe injury and death to children. Though there have been many of these cases, none of them have been any less gut-wrenching than the last and all of them have been avoidable.
An 11-year-old girl celebrating her birthday by playing mini-golf at a Florida resort died after being electrocuted while reaching into a pond for her stray golf ball. A bystander tried reaching out for the child to help her but was also injured by the electrical shock. An investigation by Leesfield & Partners attorneys revealed that ground fault interrupters, a device designed to prevent this kind of injury, were not being used, paving the way for the water to become electrified. A $10 million award was secured by attorneys with the firm for the child’s grieving family.
The family of another child represented by Leesfield & Partners was awarded $17.5 million in a settlement after a dresser toppled over, killing their 2-year-old. Leesfield & Partners also secured a $3 million settlement for the family of a child who died in a gun-related incident and $2.5 million for the family of a child who died aboard a cruise ship.