A North Carolina mother has been arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter after she allegedly left her 8-year-old daughter in a hot car while at work, leading to the child’s death, police said. Officers responded Wednesday evening to reports of a child in critical condition inside a vehicle in Charlotte, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
The child was transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead early Thursday, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. Her mother, 36-year-old Ashlee Stallings, allegedly left her daughter in the vehicle “in hot weather conditions,” and the 8-year-old suffered a medical emergency, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a press release. Temperatures in Charlotte on Wednesday had reached the upper 90s.
Stallings allegedly told police she had left her daughter in her car while she was at work, running with the air on, but “believed the victim turned the car off because she was cold,” the arrest warrant affidavit stated. When the mother returned to her vehicle about an hour and a half after last hearing from the girl via text, she found her daughter unresponsive on the backseat floorboard, taking shallow breaths and foaming at the mouth, according to the affidavit.
Stallings used a hammer to break open the back window and then attempted to drive to a local hospital before stopping at a business for help, according to the affidavit. “She admitted she knew the temperature was 94 degrees outside and that she should not have left the victim inside the car alone,” the affidavit stated. Medical staff at the hospital told police the girl suffered brain herniation due to hyperthermia, according to the affidavit.
Stallings was arrested Thursday and charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse by willful act causing serious injury, online court records show. She is being held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond, online jail records show. Her next court date has been scheduled for July 16. The investigation remains ongoing, police said.
Amazon confirmed to ABC Charlotte affiliate WSOC that Stallings worked at an Amazon facility and said it is “working closely” with police as they investigate. “This is an incredibly tragic incident,” Amazon said in a statement to WSOC. “During this difficult time, we’re supporting our employees and have made counseling resources widely available.”
The incident marked at least the fifth hot car death so far this year, according to the nonprofit Kids and Car Safety. It takes very little time for a car to get too hot for children. A car can heat to 124 degrees in only 30 minutes when it’s 90 degrees outside, according to the National Weather Service.
In a similar report by WBTV/Gray News, North Carolina authorities confirmed the arrest of Ashlee Stallings following the death of her 8-year-old child who was left in a hot car. Stallings reportedly left her 8-year-old girl inside her vehicle while she went to work on Wednesday. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said Stallings was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse by willful act causing serious injury.
Police said the child was left in the car at an Amazon Fulfillment Center near the airport that afternoon on what meteorologists reported being the hottest day of the year so far in the area. Officers said the 8-year-old girl ended up going into cardiac arrest, and they were called to the child’s location after the mother went to get help. The girl was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but she did not survive.
“This is an incredibly tragic incident – during this difficult time, we’re supporting our employees and have made counseling resources widely available,” an Amazon spokesperson shared regarding the situation. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Stallings admitted she knew the temperature was 94 degrees outside and that she should not have left the child inside the car alone. Stallings said she left the car running with the air on but believes the victim turned the air off because she was cold.
The affidavit states that Stallings returned to the vehicle approximately an hour and a half after last speaking to the victim through text to find her unresponsive in the back seat floorboard. Stallings then used a hammer to break the back window and found the victim taking shallow breaths and foaming from the mouth. She drove toward the hospital and stopped at a business to call for help. Police said their investigation continues while Stallings is being held under a $1 million bond.
Source: ABC News, WBTV/Gray News
