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'This could happen to you' | Child safety organization warns parents after baby girl left in car, found dead

A one-year-old was in car for nearly 10 hours. The car reached temperatures of 120 degrees or above according to investigators

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Director of Kids and Cars Safety Amber Rollins is warning parents the day after a heartbreaking scene in the Alief area where a one-year-old baby girl was found dead inside a hot car.

“The worst part is that these are predictable and preventable tragedies,” she said.

According to Rollins, a child being unknowingly left by a responsible parent or caregiver represents 56% of hot car fatalities.

According to investigators, at around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, the baby’s mom went to drop off her three kids off at daycare.

RELATED: Baby girl found dead after apparently being left in hot car for 9+ hours, deputies say

She went back home, intending they say, to drop the one-year-old off on her way to run errands. She then reportedly switched cars and it wasn’t until she went to pick up her other two children that she realized her baby was missing.

Investigators say she returned home and the one-year-old was found lying on the floorboard of the backseat. She had been there for nearly 10 hours. Temperatures inside reached 120 degrees or more.

“The most common scenario with hot car deaths is the child that was supposed to have been dropped off at daycare," says Rollins.

Texas has the most child hot car deaths in the nation - a total of 145 fatalities since 1991 (kids 14 and under)

This is the second hot car death in the state this year and the 20th in the nation. Rollins warns that parents need to create reminders, like stuffed animals parents carry in the front seat after putting their child in the back or putting an item they can't start the day without next to their child.

“This has happened in almost all 50 states… parents want to believe that their love for their children is enough to protect them and unfortunately that’s not the case.”

Rollins says there's a federal bill called the "Hot Cars Act" which has been included in the infrastructure bill. She's hoping that there will be detection technology in all cars. 

The Medical Examiner in this incident has not released an official cause of death yet… and at this time it’s unclear whether or not the mother will face charges.

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