2 Infants Die in Arizona After Being Left in Hot Cars

Two infants have died in Phoenix on consecutive days after being left in hot vehicles for hours.

Josiah Riggins, 1, was found unresponsive in a car outside of a church Saturday afternoon. That came just one day after 7-month-old Zane Endress also died after after being left in a car, the Arizona Republic reports.

Both infants were said to be in the care of family members at the time of the respective incidents, Phoenix police said, according to the paper. Josiah was in the possession of his father, who “forgot the baby was in the car,” according to an initial investigation, said Sgt. Mercedes Fortune of the Phoenix Police Department. Zane was with his grandparents prior to his death.

No arrests have been made in either case so far, but investigations are still ongoing. “Everyone is cooperative,” Fortune said. “It’s the death of a child. It’s a tragedy.”

Temperatures in Phoenix can frequently surpass 100 degrees during the summer. At 100 degrees outside, the interior temperature of a car reach 138 degrees within five minutes, according to ABC 15 Arizona, putting people — especially young children — at serious medical risk.

The city made headlines last month when dozens of flights out of local airports were cancelled after temperatures reached nearly 120 degrees.

Fortune reminded parents to check the back seats of their cars for children.

“We hear that parents are saying they forgot their babies in their vehicles,” she said, according to the Republic. “Take some time, again, to look inside your vehicle . . . to just avoid these tragedies.”