A father in New Jersey was detained after purportedly leaving his 4-month-old baby in a family van for two hours, marking the first pediatric vehicular heatstroke death of 2025.

On March 18, Moshe Ehrlich was tasked with dropping off four of his six kids at a babysitter’s residence, as reported by The New York Post. Upon arriving, he realized he had forgotten to bring the infant’s milk and went back to his Lakewood residence to collect it, leaving three kids with the babysitter and the baby in the van.

After obtaining the milk, Ehrlich allegedly proceeded to the Princeton Avenue yeshiva, forgetting the baby was still inside the vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit referenced by the Post. The babysitter grew worried when Ehrlich didn’t return with the baby and contacted the child’s mother via text. The affidavit indicates the message remained unseen for over an hour.

Both the mother and babysitter made repeated, unanswered calls to Ehrlich to inquire about the infant’s whereabouts. The babysitter’s teenage son later found the van parked outside the yeshiva with the baby inside.

First responders arrived to find the infant unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood.

Although the outdoor temperature reached only 63 degrees that day, the van’s interior temperature was estimated at 96 degrees due to direct sunlight.

According to NoHeatStroke.org, this marks the first hot car death involving a child in 2025. Last year, there were 39 pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths—two more than the annual average recorded from 1998 to 2024.

[Feature Photo: Pixabay]