GARLAND, Texas (WFAA) – A 5-year-old girl died this week after she was left inside a car outside her home during an extreme heat warning impacting North Texas.
It was more than 100 degrees in Garland Tuesday when police said a driver brought two kids home from school. One child got out. The 5-year-old girl did not, and died.
“There are no words to describe how devastating this can be,” said Officer Matt Pesta with the Garland Police Department.
Garland police are investigating how it happened. No charges have been filed.
The family told detectives it took some time to realize she was still in the car.
“They started looking everywhere, right? Like you would a child, and then they started looking outside. Is she out there playing? You know, where’s she at? And then somebody located her still in the vehicle,” Pesta said.
A family member was doing CPR when first responders arrived. Police say the girl may have been in the car for hours.
Heat turns deadly quickly
Kids and Car Safety data manager Chloe Burke said the heat made the situation fatal quickly.
“It was definitely fatal very quickly,” Burke said.
Kids and Car Safety said this is at least the 23rd hot car death in the U.S. this year. The nonprofit has tracked nearly 1,200 since 1990.
“Most of these cases are a mix of stress or fatigue, and then a change in routine. This is not a lapse of love. It’s just a lapse of memory, and you know, this could really happen to anyone,” Burke said.
Copyright 2026 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.