2 baby boys die in hot cars in separate states on same day

(PHOENIX) — A 6-month-old boy has died after he was left in a hot car in Arizona for about seven hours, authorities said.

The incident unfolded after the mom asked a neighbor to drive her to Prescott Valley on Tuesday, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said.

The baby was in his car seat in the back of the neighbor’s car and he fell asleep on the neighbor’s way home to Cordes Lakes, the sheriff’s office said.

The neighbor was asked to drop the baby off with his father, who lives next door and “would be home shortly,” according to the sheriff’s office.

The neighbor got home at about 2 p.m., parked the car in the sun and went inside, “claiming to forget about the baby in the car,” the sheriff’s office said.

Around 8:45 p.m., the baby’s dad reached out to the mom, asking when the neighbor was bringing the little boy over, according to the sheriff’s office.

The mother, who was at work, called the neighbor, at which point the neighbor realized the 6-month-old was still in the car, the sheriff’s office said.

The neighbor and the dad pulled the baby out of the car and called 911, authorities said.

Cordes Lakes — which is about 65 miles north of Phoenix — reached 98 degrees on Tuesday.

On the same day as the Arizona fatality, another 6-month-old boy died after being left in a hot car in Louisiana, authorities said. When the parent went to pick up the baby from day care after work, they realized they forgot to drop him off at day care that morning and had left him in the car, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office said.

These two babies are among at least 17 children who have died in hot cars across the U.S. so far this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.

A total of 29 children died in hot cars last year. A record high of 54 children died in hot cars in 2018, according to KidsAndCars.org.

Since 1990, at least 1,101 children have died in hot cars — and about 88% of those kids were 3 years old or younger, according to KidsAndCars.org.

Click here for hot car safety tips to keep in mind this summer.