Another Child Dies In Texas After Being Left Unattended Inside Hot Car

HELOTES, TX -- Another child has died in Texas after being left unattended in a hot car on Friday.

The baby's father, a Walmart employee, left the child unattended in the store's parking lot in Helotes. He told police he forgot to drop the baby off at daycare at 6:15 a.m. and made the grim discovery when he got off work at 3 p.m., KSAT-TV reported.

When police arrived, they found the father leaning over the child's lifeless body. The father was subsequently hospitalized after complaining of chest pains.

No charge have been filed as yet, but an investigation into the matter continues, the news station reports.

The tragedy marks at least the 27th time a child has died in an unattended vehicleat the peak of summer -- the sixth in Texas.

Each year, health officials issue warnings about leaving children unattended in hot vehicles -- even if the parent or guardian believes their absence from the vehicle will be brief. The internal body temperature heats up exponentially greater inside a hot vehicle than outdoors.

Many tips are issued to prevent such tragedies.

There are even devices on the market to remind the most harried parent that there are children on board. The Cars-N-Kids monitor plays a lullaby when the car stops and a child is in the seat ($29.95; carsnkids.com). The ChildMinder System sounds an alarm if you walk away and leave your child in the seat ($69.95; babyalert.info).

Visual cues can be placed in the office and home as reminders, including downloadable ones at Emmasinspirations.com and Kidsandcars.org. There's a simple tactic dubbed the "Teddy Bear" test: A stuffed animal placed in the child's car seat at all times when empty, transferred to the front passenger seat once the child is restrained in the safety seat -- the toy a visual clue reminding that the child is in the back, strapped in, waiting for mom or dad to retrieve him or her.

The age of the latest child to die is unknown at this time. Helotes is a city located on the far northwest side of San Antonio.