What This Story Is About
- A 3-year-old boy died after climbing into a broken-down van on a Cheatham County, T.N., property while a caregiver napped, and no charges have been filed.
Why It Matters
- Hot car deaths claim about 40 children per year in the United States — roughly one every nine days — and child safety advocates say 25% of those cases involve children who accessed a vehicle on their own.
- Investigators have not said whether charges will be filed, and authorities have not confirmed how long the child was inside the van.
For Context
- Kids and Car Safety data manager Chloe Burke said about 70% of children who climb into vehicles on their own are male and between the ages of 1 and 4.
- The state of Tennessee is urging parents to use the‘ Baby in the Back’car tag as a reminder of children in the backseat, especially during the hot weather across the state.
Catch Up
- Cheatham County deputies responded to a 911 call for a missing toddler around 1 p.m. and found the child unresponsive inside a van on the property where he had been staying.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A 3-year-old boy died after climbing into a van on the property where he was staying, Cheatham County deputies said.
A family member was watching the child and laid down for a nap. When the caregiver woke up around 1 p.m., the boy was gone. Deputies were called after the child was reported missing and eventually found him inside a broken-down van on the property.
“Somehow or another that child got up from the nap and was able to find his way outside the residence and inside the van,” the sheriff said at a news conference.
What investigators know
Authorities have not said how long the child was inside the van. No charges have been filed. A GoFundMe fundraiser organized by a family friend states the boy’s mother was at work at the time and that one of her adult daughters was babysitting…