Father arrested for hot car death of his 8-week old toddler amid summer heatwave
A New Jersey father left his 8-week-old toddler in a vehicle during a heatwave on Monday which led to her death, prosecutors say.
A New Jersey father was arrested for the death of his 8-week-old after the child died after being left in a vehicle on Monday when temperatures reached the mid 90s.
Avraham Chaitovsky, 28, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after his daughter was left in the vehicle for "an extended period of time" which ultimately led to her death, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer announced Tuesday.
Police were called to a frantic scene in the area of New Egypt Road in Lakewood Township at around 1:45 p.m. for a report of a pediatric patient in cardiac arrest.
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Responding officers found Hatzolah Medical Services — a volunteer ambulance service which serves the Jewish community — attempting to render lifesaving aid to Chaitovsky’s daughter.
However, the infant was pronounced deceased at the scene, Billhimer said.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Lakewood Township Police Department and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, etermined that the infant was left alone in Chaitovsky’s vehicle for an extended period of time.
Investigators say that the act of leaving the infant in the car unattended for such a long period of time was the cause and manner of the infant’s death.
Chaitovsky was taken into custody and transported to the Ocean County Jail and has since been released.
It is unclear exactly how long the infant was left in the vehicle or why she was left there.
The investigation is ongoing and prosecutors say that Chaitovsky may face additional charges.
The tragic incident comes as baking heat grips New Jersey and many parts of the U.S.
Lakewood has been under an excessive-heat warning since Sunday.
Nearly 160 million Americans, or about 50% of the population, were under heat alert this week, including Lakewood.
Every year, dozens of American children die from being left inside hot vehicles, with the majority of cases stemming from parents forgetting they had left them there in the first place. Other causes include miscommunication between parents or guardians or forgetting to drop the child off at day care, Janette Fennell, the founder of Kids and Car Safety told Fox News Digital last month.
The group has recorded at least 1,083 hot car deaths from 1990 through 2023, with 29 deaths last year and 36 deaths in 2022. The summer months are the most prevalent.