FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — A five-year-old child has died after being left in a car in Virginia Tuesday.
According to a tweet from Fairfax Police, the child was found unresponsive in a car in the 6700 block of Grey Fox Drive in Springfield.
Fairfax Police Lieutenant John Lieb says the child was being taken home with their siblings when the five-year-old was left in the car. Police do not know what caused the child to be left behind.
Lieb said officers performed CPR on the unconscious child, who was then taken to a nearby hospital by fire and rescue but was later pronounced dead.
Detectives from the Fairfax Police Major Crimes Bureau are investigating what Lieb is called a tragic accident.
"Our heart breaks for this family," said Lieb.
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Every summer, there are new cases of heat-related deaths across the country. As of Monday, Maryland had reported seven, Virginia had reported one and the District hasn't released its data yet.
In June 2020, an infant died after her father "inadvertently" left her in a hot car in Fairfax County. The 11-month-old's father didn't realize he had left the girl in the backseat of another car until he was picking up another child from an in-home daycare.
Children are often the most vulnerable during heatwaves. The national average of these preventable deaths sits at 38 per year, according to the National Safety Council.
President Biden's just-passed infrastructure bill includes a provision that requires auto manufacturers to install an alert system that will remind drivers to check their backseats before leaving.
Experts also say placing your purse or phone on the backseat can increase your chances of triggering your memory to check the backseat before you exit.
Grabbing a bottle of water as you head out of the door is something many of us do. Sometimes you never drink it and it could end up just being left in the car. Click here to watch and subscribe to the WUSA9 YouTube Channel. (May 14, 2018)