Karen Osorio-Martinez, 35, (pictured) a senior research scientist at Procter & Gamble in Mason, Ohio, left her 15-month-old daughter in a hot car after she forgot to drop her off at day care because she was running late
A 15-month-old baby girl died in a hot car after her mother left her there for nine hours at an office building parking lot because she was running late for work and forgot to drop the baby off at day care.
Karen Osorio-Martinez, 35, a senior research scientist at Procter & Gamble in Mason, Ohio, frantically called 911 Wednesday around 5pm when she found her daughter, Sofia Aveiro motionless and strapped in a rear-facing car seat.
She told the dispatcher her daughter was dead when she was asked to perform CPR.
‘My baby just died,’ she said. ‘My baby just died.’
Osorio-Martinez found her daughter after learning from her husband Henrique Aveiro that the baby wasn’t at day care when he tried to pick her up.
According to a search warrant affidavit, Osorio-Martinez said she usually drops her daughter off at day care before heading to work, but she was running late Wednesday.
The baby’s day care, Crème de la Crème, in Mason, is approximately a five-minute drive away from P&G and the family’s home, Dayton Daily News reported.
An Ohio coroner said preliminary autopsy findings show the baby’s death was heat-related.
A prosecutor has said it would be premature to discuss criminal charges against Osorio-Martinez until after a police investigation has been completed.
P&G released a statement Thursday from the girl’s family asking for ‘prayers, patience and privacy during this unimaginably difficult time’
Osorio-Martinez graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in 2004 with a degree in biology. She has a PhD in development and genetics from Cornell University and she has worked for P&G since 2010.
Her husband Aviero also works at P&G as a data scientist in a different facility. He also attended Cornell University.
Aviero was not in the car with Osorio-Martinez on Wednesday morning, according to the Dayton outlet.
P&G released a statement Thursday from the girl’s family asking for ‘prayers, patience and privacy during this unimaginably difficult time,’ Cincinnati.com reported.
‘Words cannot express the depth of despair we feel at the loss of our baby girl Sofia,’ the statement read.
‘Everyone who had the privilege of knowing Sofia would say that she was truly a blessed child who brought smiles, joy and happiness to everyone.’
The Warren County prosecutor said Thursday that any discussion of criminal charges against the mother would be premature until Mason police complete their investigation.