9-Year-Old US Girl Dies After Mother Intentionally Leaves Her In Hot Car To Work 8-Hour Shift

A 9-year-old girl in the US died on Tuesday after her mother intentionally left her alone in a hot car to work an eight-hour shift. According to ABC News, the 36-year-old who works at a manufacturing plant in Galena Park, Texas, alerted the police to the horrifying death after returning to the Toyota Camry where she had left the girl in the backseat. She left the child with some water, partially rolled down the windows of the vehicle and then "proceeded to go to work for the day," the police said. 

"I don't know if anyone checked on the child throughout the day," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at a press conference, per the outlet. "There's never an excuse to leave a child unattended," he added. 

The mother left the child unattended in the car despite temperatures soaring to 97 degrees Fahrenheit in Galena Park on Tuesday. 

According to police, once the 36-year-old returned from her 8-hour shift at around 2:00 pm, she found her daughter unresponsive. She contacted the law enforcement, and the child was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. 

The mother was detained on Tuesday, but was released the next day as investigators await autopsy results. An investigation into the death of the 9-year-old is ongoing. 

It is not clear why the mother left her daughter in the car. "A 9-year-old beautiful little girl has lost her life by no fault of her own," said Mr Gonzalez. He said that the incident, "which could have been prevented," is a "unique" situation, since most hot car deaths are typically accidents. 

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"Maybe she has to make ends meet and keep food on the table and work. But the risk of death or harm - there's just no reconciling that in my mind. You got to make other arrangements. It's not worth it to put a child at risk like this, for any particular reason," the sheriff continued.

He went on to say that nothing at this point shows that the mother "thought this would be the outcome."

According to the New York Post, it is illegal to leave a child in a car unattended in Texas. The death of the 9-year-old marks the third hot car death to occur in the state in the last four days and at least the 13th child to die in a hot car nationwide this year.