Toddler Dies in Hot Car While Mom Teaches Class

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the Tuesday death of an 18-month-old girl found in a car parked outside a Panama City elementary school.

Deputies say they responded to a call from Cedar Grove Elementary School around 3:15 p.m. about a child who was not breathing. When they arrived on the scene, they found the girl dead.

The child’s mother, Jamie Buckley, arrived at the school between 7 and 7:30 a.m. Tuesday to teach classes, the sheriff’s office wrote in a report. She, however, “forgot the child in the car. When she went to her car to leave after school she found the child, Regan Buckley, still in her car seat,” the report said.

The child’s body has been turned over to the Bay County Medical Examiner’s Office. Charges in the case are pending the outcome of the sheriff’s office investigation.

See Also:

• State Investigating Death of Lawyers’ Toddler in Hot Car
• Tot Left in Hot Car So Woman Could Attend Book Fair, Deputies Say
• Watch: Deputy Shows How Hot Cars Can Get
• 2 Police K9s Die After Being Left in SUV

This is the second death of a toddler in a hot car in recent weeks. In mid-May, a 16-month-old girl died in Lake City after she was left inside a car parked outside her family’s home. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement took the lead on that investigation since the child’s parents both work for the 3rd Judicial Circuit of Florida. The mother is an assistant state attorney and the father an assistant public defender.

“Initial information provided to responding CCSO deputies indicated the child’s father forgot to take her to daycare that morning and did not discover her until he returned home (that) afternoon,” FDLE stated.

Two police K9s also died recently after their handler left them in a SUV parked outside his Davie home.

Deputies and firefighters across the Tampa Bay region are warning parents of the dangers of leaving anyone inside a hot car. In 2014, a Sarasota County deputy recorded himself inside a closed up patrol vehicle to show the effects on the body after just 11 minutes.

In 2014, an estimated 30 children across the country died after being left inside vehicles. The website SafeKids.org offers insights on how to prevent tragedies.

Temperatures in the Panama City area on Tuesday reached a high of about 82 degrees, Accuweather.com reported.

Image via Shutterstock

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