A 2-month-old died in Lexington after being left in a hot car, police say
A 2-month old baby has died after being left in a hot car for several hours, according to Lexington police.
Valen Hakizimana died at 8:13 p.m. Thursday at a home in the 1800 block of Barksdale Drive, which is in the Winburn area off Russell Cave Road, the coroner’s office said.
The coroner’s office ruled Valen’s cause of death was hyperthermia, and Lexington police were investigating the incident.
Detectives believe a family member unintentionally left the boy in a car for several hours Thursday, according to Lexington police. Officers were summoned to the home for a report of a deceased infant, police said.
“This is one of those things that as a department we hate to investigate,” Sgt. Donnell Gordon said. “We have to do our job, and for anyone involved — the detectives, officers on scene, firemen, emergency care guys — it’s one of those cases that stick with you for your entire career.”
No criminal charges have been filed as of 2 p.m. Friday. Police did not state which family member was caring for the baby.
According to Kentucky law, a person may be charged with second-degree manslaughter if he or she wantonly causes the death of a child younger than 8 by leaving the child in a vehicle. Second-degree manslaughter is a Class C felony.
Hyperthermia is an “abnormally high body temperature caused by a failure of the heat-regulating mechanisms of the body to deal with the heat coming from the environment,” according to the National Institutes of Health.
The body goes through five stages before death occurs from hyperthermia, the Bradenton Herald reported. The final stage is heat stroke, which occurs when body temperature reaches 104 degrees.
WKYT reported police were called to the Barksdale Drive residence about 7:30 p.m. Thursday and cleared the scene around 11 p.m. WKYT is the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner.
Valen is the second child to die in a hot car this year in Kentucky and the 38th to die nationally this year, according to KidsAndCars.org. Kentucky has had 27 child hot car deaths since 1993, which is the tenth-most in the country.
Earlier this month, a 2-year-old Corbin girl died from hyperthermia after she was found unresponsive in a vehicle.
In 2016, a 3-year-old boy survived after being left alone in a van for more than nine hours at Precious Jewels day care on August Drive in Lexington. The driver, Dorathay Gateskill, was charged with wanton endangerment. Gateskill was found guilty and barred from working in day care for two years, according to court records.
A 5-month-old girl was found unresponsive after being found inside a car on Candlelight Way in Lexington in 85-degree heat nine years ago. The baby was rushed to the hospital, where she died from hyperthermia.
The 2010 death of Holland Judy came exactly a year after the previous heatstroke death of a child in a car in Lexington. Two-year-old April Knight died after she was left in a car on North Upper Street in June 2009. She had spent the day at Jacobson Park with her grandparents and other children, then returned to the grandparents’ home.
The grandparents thought a younger child was getting April out of the car. Two hours later, they found April still inside the vehicle.
No one was charged in either the 2009 or 2010 deaths.
To prevent hot car deaths, Kids And Cars recommends people make a habit of opening the back door every time they park to ensure no one is left behind. Other options include placing an item you can’t start your day without in the back seat and announcing and confirming who is getting each child out of the vehicle.
This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 1:07 PM.