HOUSTON – Houston police officers are investigating the death of a 7-month-old child found in a hot car outside a business in northwest Houston Friday night.
Officers were called to the 7900 block of Northcourt Road for a child who was not breathing.
Houston Police say the baby's father forgot him in the back seat of his car.
He told police he'd dropped off his other two children at daycare Friday morning then he went to work.
He told investigators he had forgotten his 7-month-old son Justin Huynh in his car. Justin usually gets dropped off by a babysitter, according to police.
It wasn't until the baby's mother called asking about Justin's whereabouts that the father rushed to his car.
It was 7:30 p.m.
Justin had been in the car since 9:30 that morning.
It was too late.
Investigators questioned the father and released him pending further investigation.
"We need to understand that cars can be killers and cars can be very dangerous when you combine them with heat.
It's kind of like being in a sauna," said Dr. Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk, an organization works to spread awareness about the dangers of leaving a child in a hot car.
Two years ago, meteorologist Justin Stapleton and health reporter Hailey Hernandez walked us through the dangers.
After 30 minutes inside a vehicle, the temperature soared to 105 degrees. Stapleton's body temperature reached nearly 103 degrees.
Unsafe for him, even as an adult, and much worse for a baby.
"For parents, getting into a car, leaving your kids in a car, (is) something that you think is just for a second, but that can be a deadly second," Sanborn said.
Police are not releasing any further details at this time.
