DORAL, Fla. – The father of a 6-month-old girl who died after being left in a car in South Florida for nearly nine hours remains in police custody.
According to investigators, the child's father dropped off an older sibling at the Doral Academy Elementary School while the baby was restrained in the back seat on Tuesday. The father continued to work, forgetting his daughter was still in the car.
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When the father returned to school to pick up the older sibling, he realized his 6-month-old daughter was unresponsive in the car. She was pronounced dead at Miami Children's Hospital. Police believe he left the baby there by accident.
Neighbors were shocked by the news.
"How could someone forget a baby? They were obsessed with her," Ana Arias said in Spanish. "Oh my God, I'm stunned."
The family said the father was devastated.
Police in Miami-Dade County have handed the case to the State Attorney's Office, which will decide if that father will be charged.
"The State Attorney's Office has a great deal of discretion in deciding whether or not to charge. There's been other cases where they have determined it's an accident and they charged misdemeanors," said Local 10 Legal Expert Lee Stapleton.
So far, no charges have been filed.
The Department of Children and Families is investigating. Officials with DCF said they have been to the home before.