A grieving father says his ‘heart is broken’ after the death of his three-month-old baby boy, who was allegedly left in a hot car for nearly an entire day by his ex-girlfriend.
Aiden Miller become the 29th child to die in a boiling vehicle so far this year in the United States when he was discovered still strapped into his infant car seat, in New Albany, southern Indiana, at about 4.30pm on Monday.
The baby’s father, Aaron Turner, told WLKY: ‘I don’t understand how this could happen and my heart is broken. My biggest hope is in sharing this story, another child’s life will not be lost.’
Aiden Miller, above, died after allegedly being left in a hot vehicle in New Albany, Indiana
He explained that his former girlfriend said she had first dropped off their two-year-old daughter at the Kids Care Academy day care on Monday morning.
She was then scheduled to drop off the infant at a different day care.
Although that center and Aiden’s day care are less than two miles apart in New Albany, she drove directly to her work, Express Care – a medical center.
The mother allegedly forgot about their son’s presence in the vehicle, and he was left for hours in her vehicle in the parking lot.
The three-month-old was left in a car in the parking lot of the Express Care Medical Center, above, for most of the day while his mother was at work
When she left work at the end of the day, his ex found the three-month-old unresponsive, on the back seat. Outside, the temperatures reached about 78F (25.6C) on Monday.
Despite rushing him into the medical center, where CPR was attempted, Aiden was later pronounced dead at hospital.
Turner told Wave 3 News: ‘Any way that I can prevent this from happening ever again, that’s how I’m going to celebrate his life.’
Explaining that the baby’s mother had called him on the way to hospital, he went on: ‘She came out to the car, and she says she opened the car door, and was like, “what is that smell” and she noticed that Aiden was still in the back seat.’
Turner, who initially described himself as ‘hurt and angry’, added: ‘I still don’t understand how that happens. I mean obviously it happens, it just happened to my family. It doesn’t get any closer to home than this.’
He described the infant as a great baby who did not cry or fuss unless he was hungry, and was just beginning to smile at the sound of his father’s voice.
Turner said that he was feeling a mix of emotions, adding, ‘keep in mind that that baby is the number one priority, because it’s inexcusable for any kid to have to go through that and for parents to lose a child like this.’
Aaron Turner says his ‘heart is broken’ after the death of his three-month-old baby boy, Aiden Miller, above
He asked the community to say prayers for his family, including his ex-girlfriend.
The criminal investigations division of the New Albany Police is investigating the baby’s death. A spokesman said officers would not release further information at this stage.
KidsAndCars.org said that so far this year there have ‘been 28 confirmed child vehicular heatstroke deaths in the United States. This represents more hot car deaths than we have ever suffered by July 22 during any year in US history.’
It said that every year on average 37 children die in hot cars in the US, and added: ‘KidsAndCars.org is urging parents and caregivers to be extra vigilant during any changes in the daily routine. This is when most tragedies occur.’
The child safety organization’s list of hot car deaths so far this year shows that Aiden Miller is the 29th child to die after being left in a vehicle, although the official cause of his death has not been released.