A babysitter has been arrested in Florida following the death of a 10-month-old girl that police say was left in a hot car on a day when temperatures rose into the high 90s.
Rhonda Jewell, 46, is now facing a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child following the incident in Macclenny on Wednesday, outside of Jacksonville, according to the Baker County Sheriff’s Office.
Police say around 8 a.m., Jewell, who “has been the infant’s babysitter on occasions since June of this year,” picked up the girl from her mother’s home before driving to another residence “where she was going to babysit other children as well.”
“Rhonda arrived and went into the residence, leaving the infant in the vehicle. It wasn’t until the mother of the infant arrived around 1:00 PM to pick up the infant that Rhonda realized the infant was left in the vehicle,” the Baker County Sheriff’s Office said.
FLORIDA BABY DIES AFTER BEING LEFT FOR HOURS IN HOT CAR WHILE PARENTS ATTENDED CHURCH, POLICE SAY
“The infant was transported to Fraser Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced deceased,” police added. “Rhonda Jewell was subsequently arrested and delivered to the Baker County Detention Center.”
A police incident report said the temperature inside the vehicle where the child was left reached “over 133 degrees, for a period of at least 5 hours,” according to First Coast News.
The station, citing the report, said hospital staff indicated to police that the child’s internal temperature reached 110 F, the highest reading its thermometers could record.
FLORIDA PARENTS FACE CHARGES FOR DEATH OF TODDLER WHO SPENT 15 HOURS IN HOT CAR, POLICE SAY
Jewell has since bonded out of the Baker County Detention Center, First Coast News also reported.
“Each of us are given the gift of life every morning we wake up and every evening when we finish our day, we are blessed if our family is safe and healthy. In the blink of an eye, our world can be turned upside down,” Baker County Sheriff Scotty Rhoden said in a statement. “Please be mindful of this when trying to understand the tragedy that took place in our small town.”
Rhoden said the case was “a 911 call that no law enforcement office ever wants to receive.”
“I am asking my community to respect the privacy of the victim’s family and to please join me in prayer for the family and everyone involved,” he also said.
