The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner determined that a 2-year-old child left in a vehicle died from heat exposure.
According to Phoenix police spokesperson Sgt. Vince Lewis, officers responded to a home near 24th Street and Baseline Road at approximately 6:30 p.m. on July 15 after receiving a report of an injured person.
The 2-year-old child, Marcelino Valdez, had been left inside a parked car, with the windows rolled up, as his father brought his four siblings inside the home, according to Medical Examiner Amber Wang.
After being left inside the car and enduring 108-degree weather for about four hours, Valdez father realized he was missing a child and walked outside. The father discovered his son still inside the car, slumped over,
with a body temperature of 107, Wang said.
Unresponsive and in critical condition, Valdez was brought inside the home by his father as he alerted authorities according to Wang. The Phoenix Fire Department arrived and attempted to perform life saving measures before taking him to the hospital.
Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Valdez was pronounced dead by medical personnel, Wang said. Valdez initial rectal temperature was found to be 108 degrees, according to Wang.
"Based on the examination findings and all other investigative information received to date and as available to me, it is my opinion that the decedent died of environmental heat exposure," Wang said. "Given the reported circumstances of death, it is further my opinion that the manner of death is most appropriately designated accident."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Heat exposure cited as cause of death for 2-year-old left in vehicle
