St. Petersburg police investigating after boy, 1, found dead in car at day care center
St. Petersburg police are investigating after a 1-year-old boy was found dead Wednesday in the back of his father’s car at a day care center.
Officers responded about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday after the boy was found unresponsive in a car at the Kindercare Bayfront Child Development Center, 800 Sixth Ave. S., according to the St. Petersburg Police Department. He was pronounced dead there.
Detectives learned that the boy’s father took him to an appointment in the morning and was supposed to drop him off at the day care center after that, but instead went home, according to police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez.
Later in the day, the father went to pick up the child at the center, and when the staff told him the boy hadn’t been dropped off that day, the father checked with his wife, Fernandez said.
“The child wasn’t with the wife, so then he ran out to the car and realized that he had never dropped the child off,” Fernandez said.
Investigators were waiting for an autopsy Thursday and would determine whether any criminal charges would be filed, Fernandez said.
Police are not releasing the father’s name at this point because no charges have been filed, Fernandez said. The Tampa Bay Times is not naming the boy in this story for the same reason.
