Baby found dead in car after father allegedly ‘forgot’ to take him to babysitter
The baby boy is thought to have been left in the vehicle for hours after his father went to work
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Your support makes all the difference.Police in San Jose, California, are investigating the death of a nine-month-old baby, who was left in the back of a car after his father allegedly ‘forgot’ to take him to their babysitter.
The baby boy was found unconscious by his father on Wednesday evening when he returned to the silver Toyota SUV after work.
The man called the police just after 7pm but the child was pronounced dead at the scene.
A spokeswoman for San Jose Police, Sgt. Heather Randol said "The father went to work and just forgot that the infant was in the car."
She went on to say "It's a tragic situation for that family and the community. I can't imagine what that family is going through."
Police have not said how long the boy was left in the car but it is thought to have been hours while the baby’s father was at work.
A family friend and neighbour, Yousif Nimjeh, told KTVU that the father worked for his brother’s vending supply company, and would park the SUV outside his house and pick up a delivery truck for work.
Mr Nimjeh said that the child was usually dropped off at the babysitter’s house before work but he didn't know what "happened" that day.
He expressed his own guilt at not discovering the infant, who was only metres away in the car, while he worked on a car and a damaged pavement, "But the baby wasn't fussing or crying. Otherwise we would have heard him."
He went onto say that the father, who has two other children, was grief-stricken "He was crying and grieving and all he could say was 'the baby, the baby.'"
Another neighbour, Kevin Carroll, 59, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he had walked past the SUV three times but did not see anything because of the tinted windows.
According to weather reports, temperatures in San Jose are estimated to have reached highs of 26 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, but it is believed that it was hotter inside the locked car.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney is looking into the matter but the man has not arrested and the identities of the father and baby have not been released.