Toddler dies after being left in vehicle for several hours
August 15, 2006

By Adam Kealoha Causey
acausey@gannett.com

Shreveport police detectives are questioning the father a 2-year-old boy they say died today after being left in a vehicle for several hours.

Officers responded to a Caddo 911 emergency call about a deceased person at Willis-Knighton Medical Center on Greenwood Road about 5:56 p.m., according to 911 records.

The temperature at that time was 102 degrees, according to the National Weather Service office in Shreveport. Today's high reached 103 degrees at 4:26 p.m.

The toddler’s father was supposed to have dropped off the boy on his way to work, but the child was left in a car, Shreveport police spokeswoman Kacee Hargrave said. The father found the child in the back seat several hours later and took him to the hospital.

The child was pronounced dead on arrival, Hargrave said. His relatives have been notified but the child's name is not being released because he is a juvenile, she said.

Caddo sheriff’s investigators will continue the investigation because Shreveport detectives have determined that the boy died outside the city, Hargrave said.

The father has been taken into custody for questioning; no charges have been filed, she said.