Police said the 2-year-old was in a babysitter’s care before being found in a parked vehicle.
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL — Detectives were investigating Monday after a 2-year-old child died Sunday after being left inside a hot vehicle while in the care of a babysitter, according to Hallandale Beach police.
The death has brought new scrutiny to child hot car cases in South Florida after two similar deaths in Broward County in less than a week. Police said the Hallandale Beach case remained active and in its early stages, with key questions still unanswered, including how long the child was inside the vehicle and whether anyone could face charges.
Police and fire rescue crews were called shortly after 1:35 p.m. Sunday to Northwest Seventh Avenue and Ninth Court after a report involving a child inside a parked car. Officers found the toddler in a vehicle outside a home, and the child was taken to a nearby hospital. A dispatcher said over radio traffic that a “2-year-old has arrived at the hospital unconscious and not breathing.” The child was later pronounced dead. Police have not released the child’s name, the child’s sex or the name of the babysitter. The department said the case was being handled as a death investigation.
Hallandale Beach police said the child had been under the care of a babysitter before officers responded. The department has not said whether the babysitter was related to the child, where the child had been before the emergency call or who first noticed the child in the vehicle. Police also have not released the type of vehicle involved. “This is a heartbreaking loss, and our thoughts are with the child’s family, and everyone affected by this tragedy,” the department said in a statement. Investigators said more information would be released as the inquiry continues, but no arrest or charge had been announced as of Monday afternoon.
The death happened during a hot July weekend in Broward County. The heat index in Hallandale Beach reached about 101 degrees Sunday, according to weather data cited in national coverage of the case. Public safety officials said the temperature inside a parked vehicle can rise quickly, even when outside conditions do not seem extreme. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said more than half of pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths happen when a caregiver accidentally forgets a child in the back seat. The agency also says a young child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s.
The Hallandale Beach case followed another child death in Plantation on June 29. In that case, police responded to A World of Discovery Academy, an early childhood education center on Northwest Fourth Street, after a 23-month-old boy was found dead inside an SUV. The child’s father had reportedly forgotten to drop him off in the morning and discovered him outside the day care later that afternoon. Leslie Novoa, the day care’s owner, said the earlier death left the family and the center shaken. “This is hard for the parents, hard for us,” Novoa said. “This is sad to see this family, a wonderful family, to go through so much pain.”
Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit group that tracks hot car deaths involving children, listed the Hallandale Beach death as the fourth such death in Florida this year and the 10th nationwide. The group has said most of a vehicle’s temperature increase happens within the first 10 minutes, and that routine changes, stress, fatigue and distractions can be factors in cases where a child is unknowingly left behind. Police have not said whether any of those factors are part of the Hallandale Beach investigation. Detectives also have not disclosed whether they are reviewing surveillance video, phone records, witness statements or medical findings.
The next steps are expected to include the medical examiner’s review and continued interviews by Hallandale Beach detectives. Police have not announced a news conference or a date for the next update. Prosecutors would review the findings before any criminal charge, if investigators determine a charge is warranted. For now, police have described the case as active and preliminary. The department said it was using the death to repeat its warning about checking the back seat before leaving a vehicle, but officials have not tied that statement to any final finding in the case.
On Monday, the area near Northwest Seventh Avenue and Ninth Court was the focus of questions from neighbors, police and news crews as the investigation continued. The street sits in a residential part of Hallandale Beach, a city in southern Broward County just north of Miami-Dade County. Police have not described what the child was doing at the home or how long the vehicle had been parked there. The lack of public details left the timeline narrow: an early Sunday afternoon emergency response, a rushed trip to the hospital and a child’s death now under review by detectives.
The investigation remained open Monday, with no charges announced and no full timeline released. Police said additional details would be provided when investigators are able to share them.
Author note: Last updated July 6, 2026.