An Arizona mother has been arrested after her 3-year-old daughter was discovered dead in her hot car while she slept. According to AZ Central, 23-year-old Tianna Jones was arrested on suspicion of child abuse.
On August 30, Jones called 911 to report that she couldn’t find her 3-year-old daughter or her car keys. After authorities arrived, responding officers began searching the area around her apartment. Soon after the search for the young girl began, she was discovered inside her mom’s vehicle unresponsive.
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As KOLD-TV reports, after looking at surveillance footage captured by Tianna’s apartment complex, it revealed that her 3-year-old daughter, Delilah, had walked out of the apartment on her own and eventually found her way into her mother’s car. The footage also revealed that Delilah was in the vehicle for more than four hours until Tianna was seen exiting the apartment to look for her.
Multiple news agencies have reported that Tianna fell asleep after a late night of partying, which allegedly included drug use. Tianna also told authorities that this isn’t the first time Delilah was able to escape their apartment. She told investigators that the door had a faulty door latch.
As AZ Central reported, Delilah was also once removed from Tianna’s custody for neglect. It remains unclear when that occurred or when Delilah was placed back in her mother’s car.
Tianna was booked at Maricopa County Jail and has not yet entered a plea. The official cause of Delilah’s death will be determined by the County Medical Examiner’s Office. The results of her autopsy have not yet been revealed.
According to Kids and Cars, this was Arizona’s first hot car death of 2020 and the 20th in the United States. On September 2, an infant baby girl in Florida became the 21st car death, the website reports.