2 on leave after coast officer's toddler dies in car
Two Long Beach police officers are on paid administrative leave after a child was left in a hot car and died shortly afterward Friday.
Hancock County authorities said a 3-year-old girl was left in a car unattended Friday afternoon for “some time.” The child's mother and a male officer are both on leave, according to WLOX-TV.
Hancock County Coroner Jim Faulk identified the child as Cheyenn Hyer. He said he believes the death is due to heat, but that he will await an official autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
Chief Deputy Don Bass said the child was found in the vehicle around 1:30 p.m. on Standard-Dedeaux Road in Kiln.
It is the third time in 2016 a Mississippi child has died after being left in a hot vehicle.
Bass confirmed that the car was running when the child was found. He said it's not clear if the air conditioner was on.
"We hope so, that’s what we were led to believe," he said. "It’s all pending. We haven’t had an opportunity to sift through all the information because we weren't able to take a statement due to the condition of the mother."
The mother was extremely distraught at the scene and unable to talk to authorities, he said. She has since been described by Long Beach Police Chief Wayne McDowell as being in "a medical state."
Cheyenn was taken to the hospital where CPR was administered. Faulk said she was pronounced dead by an emergency room doctor.
It’s not yet clear if there will be charges in the incident, but the death is still under investigation, authorities said.
Mississippi ranks 17th in the nation with 18 heat stroke fatalities from 1995-2015, according to KidsAndCars.org.
In May, 2-year-old Caroline Bryant of Brandon and 8-month-old Shania Carradine of Grenada both died after being left in hot cars in separate incidents.
Bryant’s mother was not indicted in her death. Carradine’s father was, but her mother has asked that the charges be dropped.
On Sept. 15, U.S. legislators introduced the Helping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats Act (HOT CARS Act of 2016, H.R. 6041), a critical piece of legislation that would prevent children from being needlessly killed and injured when left alone in vehicles.
The HOT CARS Act would require the U.S. Department of Transportation to issue a final rule within two years for a reminder system to alert the driver if a child is left unattended in a vehicle.
Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.