Florida parents face charges for death of toddler who spent 15 hours in hot car: police

Two Florida parents left their 2-year-old daughter in a car for about 15 hours in 80-degree heat before she died, police said.

The girl had a body temperature of 107 degrees, according to the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office.

The couple’s 4-year-old child was also left in the car but managed to escape and is in the custody of child protective services, police said.

A woman, later identified as the children’s mother, called 911 and was “disturbed” and “screaming” so much that the dispatcher wasn’t able to obtain much information, Holmes County Sheriff John Tate said during a press conference announcing the parents’ arrests.

Responding deputies “were met outside with an individual carrying a baby that was unresponsive,” Tate said. “When I say, ‘a baby,’ it was a 2-year-old.

“Immediately, the deputy began CPR, started trying to do life-saving measures on the child,” but it wasn’t enough to save her life, the sheriff said. 

The children’s mother, Kathreen Adams, 23, initially told police she found her baby unresponsive inside the house but allegedly later confessed that she forgot about her sleeping children and left them in the car, Tate said.

The kids were in the car between midnight and around 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office. 

Police “tried to interview” the father, 32-year-old Christopher McLean, but he was “uncooperative,” Tate said. 

Police executed search warrants for the parents’ home and car, where they allegedly found “numerous” packages of meth and marijuana along with drug paraphernalia, according to the sheriff. 

Adams and McLean were arrested and originally booked on charges of child neglect, possession of meth and possession of drug paraphernalia.

“More charges are coming” after the autopsy, the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News Digital Friday afternoon. 

This is the fourth child to die after being left in a hot car in 2023, according to Kids and Car Safety, a group dedicated to educating the public about this issue and providing resources for parents. 

The other deaths occurred in Spring Valley, New York, May 9; Port St. Lucie, Florida, March 6; and Atmore, Alabama, Feb. 27, according to Kids and Car Safety.