A five-year-old boy died in a hot car after mistakenly being left for up to three hours by his mum, it is claimed.
The mother had rushed home as she prepared for the birthday party of another child, an eight-year-old girl, and is believed to have not realised the boy was still in the car on Monday afternoon.
It was only after two or three hours that she noticed the five-year-old was missing and she made the tragic discovery of the boy in the car, said Texas police.
She had thought that the youngster was in the house but having searched there, she then went out to the car at their home in Harris County, north east Houston.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed that the child had died after being left for “several hours”.
He said that officers had gone to the scene on Blair Hill Lane shortly after 3 pm and that an investigation has now started.
Sheriff Gonzalez tweeted: “Pct 3 units were dispatched to the 13700 blk of Blair Hill Ln. Upon arrival, units determined a child (possibly 5 yrs) was left inside a vehicle for several hours. The child was pronounced deceased at the scene. HCSO Investigators are en route to the scene.”
Police said that the mum had gone with her two children to a shop to buy items for a birthday party.
And on returning home the mum and daughter had got out but the boy remained strapped to his seat, Sheriff Gonzalez, said.
He told a police conference: ” Mum went inside, the other sibling was inside as well, after a couple of hours, maybe two or three hours, mum noticed that the other child was nowhere to be found, began calling to him no answer, she frantically ran outside and found the boy still buckled in.”
The mum told detectives that the five-year-old knew how to unbuckle himself and get out of a car – which is why she assumed he had gone indoors.
The sheriff did add that the car, which pictures show to be a Porsche, was on loan and it may have been that the boy was unfamiliar with the lock which could have led to the tragedy.
It is unclear at this stage whether the unnamed woman will face charges over the death.