Toddler Hot Car Death: Neighbor Tried To Save NJ Girl

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, NJ — A neighbor tried to save a two-year-old girl who had been left unattended in a vehicle in Franklin Township Tuesday, officials said.

The girl, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead that afternoon.

The neighbor is a member of a local fire department and was performing CPR on the child when Franklin Township Police got to the scene on Summerall Road, officials said. Original story — Child Dies In Franklin Township, Officials Investigating: Prosecutor

No charges have been filed in the girl's death, officials said.

Franklin Township Police first got a report of a child in cardiac arrest at about 2:21 p.m. Tuesday. Officers arrived and helped the neighbor try to revive her, until Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital units arrived to take over life-saving measures.

The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office and other officials are investigating how long the girl was inside the vehicle. Sources told NBC New York the child may have been in the car for up to seven hours.

The New Jersey Northern Regional Examiner's Office will perform an autopsy to determine the exact cause and manner of the girl's death, officials said.

"Authorities have stated that results of the preliminary investigation have determined that the 2-year-old child had been left unattended in a vehicle,"the prosecutor's office said in a news release Wednesday. "Further investigation is on-going to determine the exact length of time the child was in the vehicle, and the circumstances surrounding the events leading to this incident."

Officials ask anyone with more information about the child's death to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at (908) 231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at (732) 873-5533 or via the STOPit app.

A neighbor told NBC New York that the girl's parents were "screaming in pain and anguish" when police told them what happened, and said they were "great parents" who loved and doted on their children.

This is the 22nd time this year a child has died in a hot car in the United States, according to Kids and Cars.

Four children died across the nation in the week between Aug. 9 and 16.

Temperatures inside cars will soar far above the outside temperature, experts say. 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.

Consumer Reports said its tests show temperatures inside cars can reach dangerous levels for children and pets within an hour. One test showed that when the temperature outside was 61 degrees, the temperature inside reached more than 105 degrees within an hour.

Patch's Josh Bakan contributed to this report.