A four-year-old Pennsylvania girl died on Friday after her babysitter left her in a hot car for hours during a record-breaking heat wave.
The unidentified caretaker was supposed to drop off the child, who was later identified as Samaria Motyka, at daycare in the morning.
Instead, the sitter went straight to work, leaving the young girl, identified by media reports as Samaria Motyka, in the backseat of the car.
For the remainder of the day.
The Associated Press reported that the woman came out to her car at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Friday, when she found the girl unresponsive.
Area police were called to the scene and administered first aid before rushing the child to nearby Williamsport Regional Medical Center.
She was pronounced dead on arrival.
Like many parts of the Northeast U.S., the temperature in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, reached 97 degrees just after 4 p.m. on Friday.
The region is in the midst of its longest heat wave since 2013, NBC Philadelphia later reported, making this story even more unbelievable.
Why the child would be left in the car that long under any circumstances is bizarre, but given the weather conditions, it"s utterly baffling.
“With today’s heat, it’s horrible, horrible. Makes me want to cry,” a Williamsport resident told local news station WNEP of the incident.
An autopsy was conducted on Saturday at the Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown, Pa., although we don"t know the outcome yet.
Authorities are awaiting toxicology results before deciding whether to file criminal charges against the babysitter, according to WNEP.
