8-year-old dies after being left in a hot car in Charlotte. Her mother has been charged.
A Charlotte woman was arrested and is facing felony charges following the death of her 8-year-old daughter, who died Wednesday after being left in a car while her mother was at work.
Ashlee Stallings, 36, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse by willful act causing serious injury, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a press release Thursday.
According to the police, officers were called to assist MEDIC on Wednesday around 6:30 p.m. at the 4100 block of Wilkinson Boulevard. Upon arrival, police found the girl in critical condition from the hot weather. An arrest warrant said temperatures reached 94 degrees that day.
She was transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit focused on advocating for keeping kids safe from vehicle-related accidents, tracks hot-car related deaths on its website. Its tracker dates back to 1990.
On average, the organization’s website said, 38 kids across the country die each year in hot cars. From 1990 to 2023, there have been a total of 45 hot car deaths in North Carolina. And so far in 2024, the organization has reported four deaths — in South Carolina, Florida, West Virginia, and California.
About 88% of children who died in hot cars are age 3 and under.
Stallings was being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail with bond set at $250,000.
