Houston 3-Year-Old Climbs Into Hot Car, Dies

Child locks trapped him inside
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 17, 2016 1:43 AM CDT
Houston 3-Year-Old Climbs Into Hot Car, Dies
An ambulance rushed the boy to Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital   (Shutterstock)

A tragedy in Houston—and a reminder that almost a third of children who die in hot cars do so after finding their own way in. Police in Houston say that 3-year-old Evan Trapolino died Thursday after apparently walking out of his house and climbing into a car parked in the front yard, possibly while looking for a toy, KHOU reports. After crawling into the back seat, he became trapped because of the car's child locks. The city's fire department says Evan's heart stopped before he was found at around 2pm, having been in the car for up to 45 minutes on a day when temperatures hit the 90s, the New York Daily News reports.

Evan was the youngest of four children, and neighbors say they are devastated by the death of the little boy they remember as an "energizer bunny" who was always active. "A complete freak accident. Little boy was out playing around. Nobody saw him or heard him go outside," neighbor Chris Johnson tells KHOU. "Anything having to do with a kid, especially a 3-year-old, it hurts." Authorities say 30% of such deaths in the US involve a child climbing into an unlocked car and parents should always lock doors and make sure everybody is out of the vehicle before exiting. KTRK reports. (This teenager has invented a system that could help prevent hot car deaths.)

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