Alabama toddlers found dead inside car; ‘tragic accident,’ says coroner

Alabama authorities are investigating after two toddler boys apparently locked themselves in a car outside for more than an hour and died, AL.com reports.

The parents of the 3-year-old and 1-year-old, who have not been identified, told Shelby County deputies they thought the boys were playing in their rooms. When they went to check on them and found they weren’t there, they frantically searched until finding them in the car.

The boys were unresponsive and were taken to Shelby Baptist Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

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Coroner Lina Evans said the toddlers got into the car sometime after 1 p.m. on Saturday. Their parents found them about 3:30.

Evans said deputies are investigating, but it “unfortunately is just a tragic accident.”

Temperatures on Saturday were in the 90s in Montevallo, about 35 miles south of Birmingham.

It was the second time this week that a child died in a hot car in Alabama. As CrimeOnline previously reported, Dakota Fowler, 20, and Brandi Burks, 21, were arrested after their 3-year-old son Bentley was found dead on Sunday. It’s unknown how long Bentley had been in the car; Fowler and Burks told police in Hodges they put their son to bed around midnight Saturday. He was found dead at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Investigators have said they believe the couple forgot Bentley when they arrived home from a friend’s Saturday night.

KidsAndCars.org said Bentley Fowler was the 15th child to die in a hot car this year.

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[Featured image: Pixabay]