A Nigerian woman living in the United States, Gbemisola Akayinode, 36, has been charged with murder following the tragic death of her 9-year-old daughter, Oluwasikemi, who was left inside a parked car for more than eight hours on a hot summer day in Texas.
According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the child’s death was ruled a homicide caused by hyperthermia (heat stroke). The incident occurred on July 1 in Galena Park, a suburb near Houston.
Court filings indicate that Akayinode arrived at her workplace, a local manufacturing plant, at about 5:45 a.m., leaving her daughter in the back seat with food, water, ice cubes, a rechargeable fan, and melatonin to help her sleep.
She reportedly lowered the car’s rear windows halfway before going inside to begin her shift.
Investigators say Akayinode did not return to the car until 1:53 p.m., when she found her daughter unresponsive and blue. Despite her calls for help, the child was pronounced dead at the scene.
The mother told authorities she often brought her daughter to work because she could not afford child care. However, investigators discovered that her foreman had been paying for her daycare expenses, contradicting her statement.
Following the results of the medical examiner’s report, Akayinode was formally charged last week. She is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
According to KidsAndCars.org, a U.S. nonprofit organization that tracks vehicular heat-related deaths, at least 30 children have died in hot cars so far this year, and more than 1,160 such cases have been recorded nationwide since 1990.
