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A tragic incident in Madisonville, Louisiana, has led to the arrest of Joseph Boatman, 32, who faces second-degree murder charges after allegedly leaving his 21-month-old daughter in a hot car for over nine hours. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office reported that Boatman had consumed multiple alcoholic beverages before picking up his daughter from a relative's house early Sunday morning (June 8).
Boatman reportedly strapped the toddler into her car seat and went inside the house, failing to return to the car. More than nine hours later, a family member discovered the child unresponsive in the vehicle. Temperatures in Madisonville reached 95 degrees, with a heat index of 105 degrees, making the conditions inside the car deadly.
"This is a devastating loss that no family ever wants to face," Sheriff Randy Smith said in a statement. "When a child is left in a vehicle, especially on a day when the heat index climbs over 100 degrees, the outcome can turn deadly in a matter of minutes."
Boatman has been taken into custody, and the investigation is ongoing.
According to KidsAndCars.org, this marks the fifth child to die in a hot car in the U.S. this year. On average, 38 children die in hot cars annually, with 88% being three years old or younger.