A 2-year-old boy died Monday after being left in a hot car in New York, authorities said, just hours after an 8-week-old girl in New Jersey suffered the same fate, making them the 11th and 12th U.S. deaths from heatstroke in cars this year.
In the latest tragedy, 28-year-old father Abraham Chaitofsky left his young daughter in a car in Lakewood Township during scorching heat for an “extended period of time,” according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to police and prosecutors, officers responded to a call at approximately 1:45 p.m. that a child was in cardiac arrest near New Egypt Road. Despite life-saving efforts, the eight-week-old baby was pronounced dead at the scene.
Chaitovsky was inside Kollel Cheshek Shlomo synagogue while his daughter was trapped inside a hot car. News 12 New Jersey reported.
The father was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
He was transported to the Ocean County Jail where he may face additional charges in the future, according to prosecutors.
Meanwhile, shortly before 7 p.m. on the same day, police officers in Monticello, New York, responded to a 911 call about a child in cardiac arrest in a vehicle outside the Sleepy Hollow apartment complex. Police He told News 12 Westchester.
Emergency responders were unable to revive the 2-year-old boy, and the Sullivan County coroner pronounced him dead at the scene. It is unclear how long the boy had been in the vehicle.
The Post has reached out to Monticello police for more information.
A heatwave has gripped much of the country, with temperatures topping 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the tri-state area on Monday.
Monday’s tragedies are the 11th and 12th confirmed deaths of children left in hot cars in the country this year. According to the national nonprofit organization Kids and Car Safety:.
Five-year-old twins died in Nebraska last week after being locked in a car for seven hours in 89-degree heat while their adoptive mother was on her way to work at a nail salon, police said.
Earlier this month, a 2-year-old girl died after being left alone for hours playing video games in the scorching Arizona heat by her 37-year-old father, who has been charged with murder.
According to the group, a total of 29 children will die in hot car fatalities in 2023, and an additional 36 will die in 2022. On average, 38 children die in hot car fatalities in the U.S. each year.
Amber Rollins, director of child and vehicle safety, told The Washington Post on Wednesday that the majority of car fire deaths occur because loving, caring parents go into “autopilot mode” and leave their children in the car.
“This is really a product of the right circumstances. These cases are almost all very similar,” Rollins said.
“The biggest factor is lack of sleep, which is normal for parents with young children, plus the change in routine,” she continued. “Many parents are still getting used to having a child, and the first few months are tough.”
Among the safety measures the organization recommends to keep children safe is making it a habit to keep parents’ daily necessities, such as a work laptop or wallet, in the back seat.
“The idea is to train them to get into the habit of opening the back door every time they leave their car,” Rollins said.
Parents are also encouraged to keep a “memory item” in the car, such as a large stuffed animal, in the back seat of the car, and when their child is in the car, the parent should place the item in the front of the car as a visual reminder that the child is there.
Kids and Car Safety helped pass federal legislation as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which includes provisions requiring the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue federal safety regulations to the auto industry regarding the technology that automakers must put in vehicles to prevent fatalities from high temperatures inside the car.
Rollins said the safety standards were supposed to be submitted last fall but have yet to be issued. Officials have repeatedly pushed back the deadline, only last week announcing they’re needed until April 2025.
“Meanwhile, children continue to die and families continue to bury them every week. This is unacceptable,” she said.
At least 1,095 children have died in hot cars since 1990, about 88 percent of them were under the age of 3, according to the group.
