A TODDLER died in a hot car parked outside a Wendy’s after his grandmother allegedly forgot he was in the back seat.
On Sunday night, three-year-old Kendrick Engram Jr. was discovered dead in a hot sports utility vehicle in Columbus, Georgia, officials said.
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Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan said the young boy was in the vehicle for about two hours and 45 minutes before his uncle found him, according to ABC News.
The child was in the hot car outside a Wendy’s drive-thru on Wynnton Road.
Temperatures during the day peaked in the region of 96 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 90F, according to NOAA’s weather observations.
Bryan said the boy spent the day with his three sisters and grandmother.
Kendrick’s grandmother and sisters returned home around 5:30 p.m., but only noticed nearly three hours later that the toddler was missing.
According to ABC News, Bryan said: “Everyone went into the house except the boy.
“The grandmother went into the bedroom, the other kids went into the kitchen area to eat. Then the kids were in and out and playing … just like kids do.”
“About 8:15 p.m., the grandmother called to the children and asked about a number of people, and no one knew where Kendrick was.”
When the grandmother realized the child was missing, she contacted the boy’s uncle who had borrowed the car to get ice cream from Wendy’s.
The uncle then searched for the boy and found him in the third row seat of the Nissan sport utility vehicle parked outside the fast food driveway.
Police arrived after Kendrick’s uncle called 911.
Kendrick was pronounced dead shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday and died of suffocation due to heat, the Muscogee County coroner revealed.
According to WRBL-TV, the toddler was still strapped into his car seat when he was found and “there were signs that he was trying to climb,” Bryan said.
An investigation into the child’s death is underway as the boy’s body will undergo an autopsy at the Georgia Crime Lab.
Bryan has since urged anyone with children to “just be aware.”
He said: “Just be aware. If you are an adult, be responsible. The children are innocent. They can not help themselves and when you have a child, it places the responsibility on you.”
Kendrick’s death is the seventh child to die in a hot car in the U.S. this year, according to SafeKids Columbus.
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