Toddler dies after being left in hot car for eight hours

A toddler has died after being locked in a car for eight hours where the temperature may have reached up to 131ºF.

Authorities in Atlanta, Georgia, said Justin Ross Harris, 33, left the child in the back seat of his car when he drove to work at 9am yesterday and did a full day’s work, leaving the 22-month-old to die in the baking heat.

The father said he didn’t realise what had happened until he began driving home at the end of the day, when he realised the the toddler was unresponsive in the back seat.

Cooper, 22-months-old, died in a hot car. His father, Justin Ross Harris, said he forgot his child was in the car.

Straddling two lanes of traffic, the man parked the car and laid his son on the ground, where he performed CPR.

Dale Hamilton witnessed the man’s attempts to revive his child.

Justin Ross Harris was charged with murder (Picture: Cobb County Police)

‘He was constantly saying, ‘What have I done? What have I done? he told KPHO.

The father was so distressed that when police arrived they were forced to restrain him.

Police later charged the father with murder.

‘When a suspect is charged with a felony – cruelty to children in the first degree – which results in the loss of life, a murder charge is appropriate,’ District Attoey Vic Reynolds told WSB Radio.

Police speculate the temperature, which reached 90ºF outside, may have risen to up to 131ºF inside the car.

Stories of children accidentally left in cars should be a rarity but are, tragically, not uncommon.

Just three days ago, a nine-month-old baby died in Florida after being left in a pickup truck for several hours.