Preliminary autopsy results from the coroner’s office said the child’s death was consistent with a heat-related death.
On average, 37 children are killed every year from heatstroke after being left in a vehicle, which comes to about one child every 9 days. This year so far 30 children have died across the country after being left in a vehicle.
Arizona, Mississippi and Texas have some of the highest statistics of fatal hot car incidents. Arizona is one of 15 states with proposed legislation making it illegal to leave a child unattended in a vehicle, according to a CNN report.
» RELATED: 10 ways to prevent a hot car death
A bill was introduced in June by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, parents, and safety advocates in hopes of stopping children from dying in hot cars. The HOT CAR- Helping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats- Act of 2017 would make back seat alert systems standard equipment in new cars to prevent child death.
"The HOT CAR Act is only really going to impact that 54 percent of children who are forgotten," said Jan Null, a certified consulting meteorologist with the Department of Meteorology & Climate Science at San Jose University, during an interview with CNN.
» LEARN MORE: New bill aims to stop hot car deaths
The other 45 percent is made up of children who gain access to a vehicle and then are affected by the heat (28 percent) and children who were purposefully left in a vehicle while the parents go do something else( 17 percent).
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