Cerebral Palsy Patient Dies After Being Left In Hot Car For 5 Hours: Police

A 29-year-old caretaker in Guilford County, North Carolina, was charged with murder after a cerebral palsy patient under her care was left in a hot car for several hours and died more than two weeks ago, police said.

Briea Askew, of Greensboro, was charged with second-degree murder Tuesday over the death of a 21-year-old female cerebral palsy patient from Jamestown on Aug. 10, Fox 8 reported, citing a statement released by the High Point Police Department.

The unnamed victim had been brought to the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center on that day with a temperature of more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit before being pronounced dead, according to the outlet.

A police investigation determined that the woman had been left unattended in a non-air-conditioned vehicle for around five hours. Authorities did not disclose the cause of her death, but they claimed excessive heat and humidity contributed to it, along with the vehicle not having air-conditioning.

Askew was arrested and charged following the investigation. Inmate records showed that she is currently being held in Guildford County Jail on a $200,000 secured bond, according to a report by the New York Post.

A similar incident occurred in Arizona days prior to the cerebral palsy patient's death. A 7-month-old boy died after he was left inside a hot car for approximately two hours while his mother was inside a shopping mall.

Officers responded to the JCPenney parking lot at Superstition Springs Center near U.S. Route 60 and Power Road at around 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 7 after receiving a report of a child not breathing. First responders rushed the boy to a hospital while performing life-saving measures, but the child did not survive.

The victim's mother allegedly found him unresponsive inside a vehicle when she returned after spending two hours in the mall.

Authorities did not say if the mother knew the baby was inside the vehicle, which reportedly had its windows rolled up. The outside temperature that day was 106 degrees Fahrenheit.

No decision has been made about whether the mother will face criminal charges, authorities said.

The death was allegedly the first reported hot car death involving a child in the state for 2021.