Child safety is once again at the forefront of discussions in Texas, following two separate incidents that occurred within a 24-hour timeframe, resulting in the deaths of two young children left in hot cars. The deceased are a nine-month-old infant from Beeville, Texas, and a 22-month-old toddler from Corpus Christi, Texas.
The first tragic event occurred in Beeville, Texas, roughly 100 miles southeast of San Antonio, when a nine-month-old child was left unattended in a vehicle by their grandmother for nearly eight hours. According to a public statement by the Beeville Police Department, the child was found unresponsive in the child safety seat around 4 p.m. The child had been in the car since about 8:30 a.m. that day.
Despite the grandmother’s quick call for medical assistance upon finding the child, attempts to revive the child were unsuccessful. The Beeville police are now conducting an investigation, with the support of the Texas Rangers and the Department of Public Safety. Although no charges have been filed at this time, the authorities have indicated that they are likely as the investigation continues.
The second incident occurred a day prior in Corpus Christi, Texas. A 22-month-old toddler named Harley Adame was inadvertently left in a parked SUV by her mother, Hilda Adame, a middle-school teacher. The child was left in the vehicle from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., during which time the outside temperature rose into the triple digits.
Upon discovering her error, Hilda rushed to the SUV, extricated Harley, and brought her into the school’s nurse’s office where CPR was administered. However, by the time paramedics and police arrived on the scene, the toddler was pronounced dead. In the aftermath of this incident, Hilda Adame, 33, has been arrested and charged with injury to a child and abandonment by Corpus Christi police.
These two incidents bring the total number of juvenile hot car deaths in Texas this year to three, with the previous death having occurred in July. A report by Kids and Car Safety states that, in 2024 alone, at least 27 children have died in hot cars nationwide. Texas has the highest number of such fatalities, with at least 157 child deaths from hot cars recorded from 1990 to 2023.
Dr. Jan Null, a meteorologist who specializes in the study of vehicular heatstroke, stresses the danger of leaving children inside a hot car, even for a brief period. “Temperatures inside a vehicle can reach lethal levels within just minutes, especially in places like Texas where summer heat can be extreme,” Dr. Null stated. “These deaths are 100% preventable, yet they continue to happen because of simple mistakes that can have devastating consequences.”
Child safety advocates and law enforcement agencies have consistently urged parents and caregivers to adopt preventative measures to avoid child hot car deaths. Suggestions include placing personal items like purses or phones in the back seat as a reminder, setting reminders on mobile devices, or using technology designed to alert drivers when a child is still in the vehicle.
As the investigations into the recent deaths in Beeville and Corpus Christi are ongoing, legal action against those involved is anticipated. Meanwhile, the heartrending loss of these young lives serves as a stark reminder to communities across Texas of the potential dangers of extreme heat and momentary distractions.