PHOENIX — An infant left for about two hours in a hot car has died — the second such death in the past two days in the city, the Phoenix Fire Department said.
Firefighters were called shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday to investigate a report of a 1-year-old boy in a car in the parking lot of the Free Church of God in Christ on the city's south side, authorities said.
The mother found the child, which was pronounced dead the scene, fire Capt. Larry Subervi said in a statement.
Phoenix police are investigating. The incident appears to be an accident, Subervi said.
Zettica Mitchell, who told the Arizona Republic she is a cousin of the baby's father, called the death "shocking, devastating, just sad."
"You feel like it's something that could happen to anybody," she said.
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On Friday, authorities say a 7-month-old boy died after being left alone in a hot car in a northeast Phoenix neighborhood in triple-digit conditions.
Emergency personnel were called to the scene about 4 p.m. Friday, fire department officials said. When officers arrived, witnesses reported the baby had been left in the vehicle for an extended period of time. The boy was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.
Both deaths look accidental, Subervi told NBC News. "Every time you put your child in the car, you may have to put a sticky note in the car so you won't forget," he said.
"It's always sad for us when people start blaming the parent," Subervi said.
The Phoenix Fire Department sees about 10 deaths of children left in hot cars per year, he said.
