Background: The Galena Park plant on the 1200 block of Mayo Shell Road in Harris County, Texas (Google Maps). Inset: Gbemisola Akayinode (Harris County Sheriff”s Office).
In Texas, a mother faces allegations of leaving her 9-year-old daughter in a sweltering vehicle during her work shift, resulting in the tragic death of the child.
Gbemisola Akayinode, aged 36, has been charged with felony murder and is currently detained in the Harris County Jail, as announced by Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County on Friday. This charge comes over three months following the unfortunate incident.
On July 1, Akayinode drove to her job at a mineral plant located on Mayo Shell Road in Galena Park, accompanied by her daughter, Oluwasikemi Akayinode. She started her shift at 6 a.m., leaving her daughter in the car with “the back windows partially down,” according to the sheriff.
Despite leaving her daughter with some water, the car’s interior grew dangerously hot as the day progressed in the South Texas heat. After completing her eight-hour shift around 2 p.m., Akayinode returned to the vehicle to find her daughter unresponsive, as reported by Houston’s CBS affiliate KHOU.
The child was transported to a nearby hospital but was declared dead due to hyperthermia.
On that day, temperatures in the area soared to 97 degrees Fahrenheit, as noted by AccuWeather. Although the car’s exact parking location is unknown, Google Maps images suggest a scarcity of shaded parking areas in the vicinity.
Gonzalez also reportedly said a window shade was put up in the front window of the car, making it harder for anyone to see inside.
Jan Null, a university professor and an expert on hot car deaths, said there were reasons this situation was rare, such as the child’s age.
“The scenario in the case in Galena Park is when the parent knowingly leaves a child in the car. Not to do them harm, but they make the conscious decision to leave the child in the car while they do something else,” Null told the local TV station. “While I go to work, while I go to the casino, while I meet up with somebody…”
Under Texas law, the felony murder statute reads: “a person whose conduct causes an unintended death during the commission or attempted commission of a felony is guilty of murder.”
