FL Infant Dies In Hot Car While Parents At Church, Mother Charged

PALM BAY, FL — An 11-month-old infant is dead after authorities said her mother left her in a car for three hours while she and her family attended church, according to authorities.

Palm Bay police said Bulaine Molme, 37, was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, four days after the baby's death.

According to police, officers were called to Mount of Olives Evangelical Church in Palm Bay on Sunday where they discovered the infant had been left in a car by Molme for approximately three hours while she attended services.

The infant was taken to Palm Bay Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

Following an investigation, police learned Molme arrived late to a church service she was officiating. Police said Molme believed the baby was brought inside by another church member.

When the service concluded, police said Molme noticed her child was not inside or with another church member. Police said she went to her car, where she found the infant unresponsive in her car seat.

"This is an unfortunate incident, and our condolences and prayers go out to the family," Palm Bay Police Chief Mario Augello said in a statement provided to the Associated Press.

The infant was the second Florida child to die in May after their parents left them in a hot car. On May 16, a 2-year-old girl died in Holmes County after authorities said she was left inside a hot car by her parents for more than 14 hours.

The girl's parents — 32-year-old Christopher McLean and 23-year-old Kathreen Adams — were charged with child neglect, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia after authorities searched their home.

• RELATED: FL Toddler Left In Hot Car For 14 Hours Dies, Parents Charged

On the day of the infant's death, the temperature was 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Research conducted by No Heat Stroke founder Jan Null, an adjunct professor and research meteorologist at San Jose State University, shows that on a 70-degree day, the temperature inside a vehicle can reach 89 degrees within five minutes. Within an hour, it can reach 113 degrees.

It's even worse on 90-degree days. Within five minutes, the temperature can reach 100 degrees; in an hour, it can reach 133 degrees.

Young children are at a heightened risk of dying of heatstroke, and not only due to their inability to escape a hot car. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's. Heatstroke begins when the core body temperature reaches about 104 degrees, and children can die when theirs reaches 107.

• RELATED: How To Prevent Hot Car Deaths

In many cases, a parent completely loses awareness that the child is in the car, according to David Diamond, professor of psychology, molecular pharmacology and physiology at the University of South Florida who has studied the hot car deaths phenomenon for 15 years.

His research shows parents can forget their kids are in the car due to competition among the brain's memory systems — the "habit memory" system that allows people to rotely perform routine tasks without thinking about them, and the "prospective memory" system used to plan. The habit memory system typically prevails, and the problem is particularly acute among parents experiencing sleep deprivation or stress, according to Diamond.

"Often these stories involve a distracted parent," Gene Brewer, an Arizona State University associate professor of psychology, said in a news release. "Memory failures are remarkably powerful, and they happen to everyone. There is no difference between gender, class, personality, race or other traits. Functionally, there isn't much of a difference between forgetting your keys and forgetting your child in the car."

NoHeatStroke.org offers tips to help parents and other caregivers prevent leaving children in cars during hot weather.

• Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended — even if the windows are partially open or the engine is running and the air conditioning is on.

• Make it a habit to check your entire vehicle — front and back — before locking the door and walking away. Train yourself to "Park, Look, Lock," or always ask yourself, "Where's Baby?"

• Ask your childcare provider to call if your child doesn't show up for care as expected.

• Place a personal item, such as a purse or briefcase, in the back seat, as another reminder to look before you lock. Write a note or place a stuffed animal in the passenger's seat to remind you that a child is in the back seat.

• Store car keys out of a child's reach, and teach children that a vehicle is not a play area. A quarter of all hot car deaths occur because the child got into an unlocked car, not because a parent left them inside, according to the NHTSA.