BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – POLICE are investigating the death of a six-month-old girl after her father had allegedly forgotten that she was in the back seat of his vehicle while he went to work.
According to a police communiqué, officers had visited the JNF General Hospital on Thursday (Jan. 21) after receiving a report that the infant was taken to the Accident and Emergency Room after she was left in a car for several hours.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the father, who had collected the child to take her to the nursery that morning, had returned to his place of employ.
However, sometime after midday, he went back to his vehicle and discovered that the infant was still in the vehicle.
He took her to the hospital, where she was admitted and warded in the Intensive Care Unit.
Unfortunately, the infant died early the following morning.
Police said that an autopsy was performed today (Jan. 25) on the body of the infant by Resident Pathologist, Dr. Adrian Nunez, who concluded that the cause of death was Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy due to Asphyxia as a consequence of confinement in a closed space (vehicle).
As defined by MedicineNet, "Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy is “damage to cells in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) from inadequate oxygen.”
Investigations into this matter are ongoing.
