One-Year-Old Dies After Being Left in Car Outside Daycare Amid Heat Warning

A toddler has died after being found inside a hot car parked outside a Nebraska daycare center.

One-year-old Ra’Miyah Worthington died after Omaha police said she was left in a hot car outside the Kidz of the Future Child Development Center at about 3 p.m. on Monday, August 21.

First responders were alerted shortly after she was found and she was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center in a critical condition, but she died shortly afterward, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

An excessive heat warning was issued on August 19 and was slated to last until August 24, according to the National Weather Service.

AccuWeather stated that the heat rose to a scorching 98.6 degrees on Monday, and it’s expected to reach 104 degrees on Wednesday.

Omaha police told CBS affiliate KOLN the vehicle where Worthington was found was registered to the daycare’s owner.

Ra’Miyah’s father Rianna Worthington told CBS affiliate KOLN: “I’m not comprehending how this could have even possibly happened.”

He added: “The daycare picks them up in the morning, early in the morning. My thing is how can you forget a kid that you yourself put into the vehicle, but you took the other two off? How do you forget one when you take off the van? How did you forget my baby?”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), more than 950 children have died of heatstroke due to being left or trapped in a hot car over the past 25 years.

In 2022, 33 children died of heatstroke in vehicles. That was lower than the record number of 53 set in 2018 and 2019.

It warned a child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s and when they are left in a vehicle it can rise quickly.

The USDOT said that heatstroke begins when the core body temperature reaches about 104 degrees.

A GoFundMe campaign has raised $4,440 out of a $10,000 target since it went live in the hours following Worthington’s death.

Money raised through the campaign will go toward funeral payments, as well as household expenses and to care for Worthington’s other siblings.

The USDOT said there are numerous steps people can take to ensure young children remain safe in cars, which include:

• Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended for any length of time and rolling down windows or parking in the shade does little to help.
• Make it a habit of checking your entire vehicle, especially the backseat before locking the doors and walking away.
• Ask your childcare provider to call if your child does not show up as expected.
• Place a personal item like a purse or briefcase in the back seat, as another reminder to look before you lock. Write a note or place a stuffed animal in the passenger’s seat to remind you that a child is in the back seat.
• Store car keys out of a child’s reach and teach children that a vehicle is not a play area.

Newsweek has contacted Omaha police, Kidz of the Future and Worthington’s parents for comment.