Video footage caught the moment a New Jersey mother fell to her knees, screaming and crying in horror, as she learned her 2-year old daughter died after being left in the family’s car for hours in 90-degree weather.
A WABC news chopper filmed the unidentified mom on the ground outside her Franklin Township home Tuesday, soon after a neighbor said she heard her “screaming in pain and anguish.”
A local police officer bent down to try and console the woman, as he held her tightly and rocked back-and-forth.
The mom was so distraught, she was eventually taken away in an ambulance.
The child’s parents had both been unaware that their toddler had been left in the hot car until cops knocked on their door.
“They were just screaming in pain and anguish,” neighbor Treana Huntley recalled. “I heard the dad screaming uncontrollably and then I heard the mom start wailing, really sobbing.”
“It was gut-wrenching … Just hearing that pain from another mother,” she said. “I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”
Police reported, that the toddler was found in a car seat in the back of the gray Honda Civic just after 2:20 p.m. Tuesday.
One of the first neighbors on the scene was a local firefighter who attempted CPR, but the girl was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office said that “further investigation is on-going to determine the exact length of time the child was in the vehicle, and the circumstances surrounding the events leading to this incident.”
However, so far it looks as if the girl was left in the car for around seven hours. The location and whereabouts of the parents has not been released yet by authorities.
It is already being listed as the 22nd hot-car death so far this year in a heartbreaking tally kept by the organization Kids and Car Safety.
“This is the kind of tragedy that doesn’t discriminate. It has to do with a failure of the brain’s memory, in many cases,” the group’s Sue Auriemma said. “Unfortunately the worst mistake a parent can make is thinking this can’t happen to them.”
What the hell is it with these parents leaving a child in a car. If nothing else, think someone could break a window and kidnap the child. Yeh, accidents happen, but this is one that should never happen!!!!
This is no damn accident… if you go 7 hours without seeing your toddler at your house then you are a ain’t shit parent…… plain and simple
How exactly does one leave a 2 year old in the car while both parents are in an air cooled apartment for hours ; sounds very suspect to me !
I agree and for 7 hours. Where did they think the toddler was? We all know 2 yr olds get into everything and when they are quiet it’s time to see what they are doing. They didn’t think in 7 hours this toddler was into something?
Exactly ! A minute or two maybe….at most, but 7 freakin hours ????? People need to get their heads back in the game and off of their phones ????
With you..How do 2 parents not know?
What parent doesn’t realize they haven’t seen their 2 year old in 7 hours? What kind of drugs were they doing? What a horrible death for that poor child, being cooked in the car.
They are shitty parents. She should be locked in a hot car for a day, or so now!
You have to be a special kind of STUPID to leave a child in their car seat in a car for 7 hours! I have no mercy for these irresponsible parents. Do not pass go—-go straight to jail. And if there are other children in the household, put them immediate into CPS.
Good lord!– a two year old keeps you hopping all the time!!– Where did these parents think their child was for 7 hours??!!!–in the middle of the day??!!! Just angers and saddens me so much to imagine what that child went through..
This is totally unimaginable. I have two dogs and if they are not seen or heard from, I go looking for them. A two year old child is normally active and if not seen or heard from in a half hour, something is up and needs to be checked.
So so sad. This kind of thing is happening way too often. What is going on!!?? Are we that distracted that we forget we have little ones? I mean, seriously??? I don’t have small children anymore but when I did, I was constantly watching them like a hawk. Our community in south Texas experienced the same tragedy last week. An teacher took her 4 yr old nephew to school and left him in the car. The child’s mother grew concerned when the child didn’t get off the bus. She called the school and was told her child had been absent that day. She then called her relative (the teacher) and that’s when the teacher realized she had forgotten the child in the car. What is happening, guys????
I mean a child that young and neither of them were wondering where the child was. Unbelievable, if they have other children they should be taken away. Some parents go crazy if their toddler is missing for 2 mins. That is all it takes for a child to get into trouble of some sort. What were they both thinking that their minds just went blank.
I had 2 boys, 11 months apart in age. It’s a full time job with 1 toddler and almost 24/7 with 2! I never had to wonder where they were or what they were doing. It’s called “responsible parenting”. I can’t imagine not hearing or seeing my little ones for 7 hours! That is called “irresponsible parenting”!!
What was this mother doing? What was it that was more important that she didn’t check in on her child for 7 hours. Yes! CPS needs to be called and a thorough police investigation take place immediately!
If the local district attorney doesn’t prosecute these two mindless idiots , Then HE should be disbarred and prosecuted himself as a accessory to the crime !
These parents should be executed.
7 hours!!! BS! I know they ate in that time frame…they would have thought I need to feed the baby. And the cops consoling the parents makes me even more sick
These two are criminals pure and simple.
Nobody does something as evil as this
and then put on a big drama show for
the crowd. These bastards deserve to
be shot on the spot. Problem solved!!!
7 hours. Sentence death penalty. Same as they gave the child