A 4-year-old girl from Pennsylvania died on Friday, July 22, after her babysitter left her in a hot car for hours during a heat wave, according to reports.
The unidentified caretaker was supposed to drop off the child, who was later identified as Samaria Motyka, at daycare in the morning but, instead, went straight to work, leaving the girl, identified by WNEP as Samaria Motyka, in the backseat of the car for the remainder of the day.
The Associated Press reported that the woman came out to her car at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Friday, when she found the girl unresponsive.
Police were called to the scene and administered first aid before rushing the child to Williamsport Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, reached 97 degrees just after 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon. The Northeast is in the midst of its longest heat wave since 2013, NBC Philadelphia later reported.
“With today’s heat, it’s horrible, horrible. Makes me want to cry,” a Williamsport resident told local news station WNEP of the incident.
An autopsy was conducted on Saturday, July 23, at the Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Authorities are awaiting toxicology results before deciding whether to file criminal charges against the babysitter, according to WNEP.
