Antonio Almaraz, 31, was arrested shortly after the child was rushed to the hospital, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said, according to NBC News San Antonio affiliate.
The two-month-old baby was found unconscious inside the car shortly after 1pm local time and was taken to a nearby hospital where He remained in critical condition as of Tuesday.
The National Weather Service in San Antonio issued a temperature forecast of up to 94 degrees for Monday and said “mostly dry and warm conditions” were expected to prevail in the coming days.
Agents said Almaraz gave conflicting statements about what happened.
According to authorities’ investigation, the man took the child to a routine doctor’s appointment around 9 a.m. local time and returned home shortly after 10 a.m. Apparently He turned off the car and entered the house, leaving the child behind.
The sheriff’s office was notified of the incident around 2 p.m., after the hospital notified authorities.
Almaraz was hired on February 20. He received a termination order because he was still on probation with the sheriff’s office.This was reported by local media WOAI.
The man was charged with injury to a child, abandoning a child with intent to return and endangering a child.
“Given the heightened public awareness of children being left unattended in vehicles, there is absolutely no justification for this. “My family and I are praying for the best outcome for this precious child,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a statement.
Motor vehicle deaths due to hot injuries are the leading cause of non-accident deaths among children in the United States.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a car’s temperature can rise 40 degrees in just 30 minutes.
According to the agency, about 40 children a year die from heatstroke because they are pinned or abandoned in a car. “Approximately one child every 10 days dies in a hot car,” NHTSA says on its website.
Over the past 25 years, it is believed that more than 950 children have died in accidents caused by hot cars.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 53% of vehicle deaths are caused by someone forgetting a child.
In 2020 and 2021, the annual number of child hot vehicle deaths was 25 and 23, respectively, according to the NHTSA, down from a total of 33 such deaths reported last year.
Source: La Opinion
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