A baby who was placed into foster care died after she was left in a hot car for at least two hours. The 10-month-old girl was left strapped into her car seat on Thursday as temperatures reached 32 degrees in Wichita, Kansas. The girl was in foster care with two men.
One of them, 29-year-old Seth Michael Jackson, had picked her up from a baby sitter at about 4pm and forgot he had left her in the car which had its tinted windows closed. The other man was in the back garden and assumed all the children were in the house.
Later, something Jackson saw on television “keyed on him” to remember, and he and the other man rushed out and found the baby dead.
Following the death, Wichita police confirmed they had arrested Jackson on suspicion of aggravated endangerment of a child.
The girl’s grandmother Cindy Poe told  the Wichita Eagle: “They tell you when your kids go into the system they’re going to be safe, nothing’s going to happen.
“They promise you. They’re supposed to take care of your kids. And you never ever expect this to happen.”
Secretary of the state Department for Children and Families Phyllis Gilmore said an investigation had been launched and inspection of all foster homes associated with TFI, the contractor involved in placing the girl in the home, would now be carried out.
She said: “I am absolutely devastated by this child’s death that should have been prevented.”
A spokesman for TFI said it was “deeply saddened" by the death of the child, and was cooperating with the investigation.
He added that TFI would be giving “heat safety tips” to its foster parents in wake of the death.
Police said both of the foster parents appeared “extremely upset” after emergency crews arrived.
Investigators hope to present their findings to prosecutors early next week, who will decide whether to file charges against Jackson.
The girl had been taken into care after being born with drugs in her system.
She spent 10 days in the pediatric intensive care unit before going to foster home along with her two older sisters.
The two men were caring for six children, ranging in age from 10 months to 18 years and wished to adopt the girl.