1-Year-Old Died in Hot Truck as Dad Caught a Flight

No charges in Nashville
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 25, 2018 10:26 AM CDT
1-Year-Old Died in Hot Truck as Dad a Caught Flight
The scene Wednesday in Nashville.   (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department)

A Nashville father flew out of town on a business trip, and police say he unintentionally left his 1-year-old daughter behind in his pickup truck, a mistake that proved fatal. The man's wife, Jenny Barker, had gone to work Wednesday believing husband Matt Barker would drop off their two children at a daycare center before catching his flight. Police say he dropped off his 5-year-old child around 7:30am, but forgot his recently adopted daughter in her car seat in his truck, per USA Today. Upon returning home, he called a ride-share service and headed to the airport. It wasn't until 5:40pm that his wife realized what had happened and pulled the child from the vehicle, performing CPR until paramedics arrived.

Katera Barker was later pronounced dead at a hospital, becoming at least the seventh child to die in a hot car in the US this year, per the Washington Post. According to NewsChannel5, Wednesday's high was 89 degrees, so "the interior of the truck could've easily reached between 130-170 degrees." Police don't expect to file charges against the father, who flew back home Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, the founder of KidsAndCars.org offers this tip to parents who fear leaving a child in a hot car, via WSMV: "Keep a stuffed animal in your child's car seat and when you put your child in the car seat put that up front in the passenger seat," or put "anything in the backseat that you'll need to grab when you arrive at your destination." (More Tennessee stories.)

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