In Columbus, Ohio, a tragic incident occurred on Thursday afternoon when a 5-year-old boy was declared dead after being left in his mother’s car in a Mansfield parking lot.

Police responded to a parking lot on Marion Avenue around 3:15 p.m. and found the child, unresponsive in his mother’s arms.

The young child had been in the vehicle since approximately 6:30 a.m., enduring about nine hours inside. The temperature in Mansfield soared to a high of 91 degrees that day.

Olivia Kidd said she has not stopped crying since finding out the young boy was one of her kindergartners and day care students.

“My heart is just broken,” Kidd said.

She said the little boy, who police have not yet identified, was the “funniest little kid” who was playful and a big fan of snack time.

“He would tell me he loved me every day,” she expressed. “I will deeply miss seeing him at school next year, attending all his events, watching him play T-ball. I can’t understand how I could forget him. Truly, I will remember him in every aspect of life.”

The child would have entered first grade in the fall.

Perrell Cameron and Jessica Phillips cared for the child in day care since he was a baby, before he moved on to kindergarten.

“I have been looking at pictures all night, all morning. Just to know it was him is so sad because he was so energetic, so loving. For being 5 years old, he was so sweet,” Cameron said.

“He was a wonderful child. He really was,” Phillips said.

Police are reminding parents to check their backseats before they get out of a car.

The Mansfield child’s death is the ninth hot car-related death in the nation this year, according to the nonprofit organization Kids and Car Safety.

Fifty-five percent of hot car related deaths happen when a child is unknowingly left in a car, the nonprofit says.

To prevent this from happening, Kids and Car Safety recommends implementing these habits:

• Make sure your child is never left alone in a car.
• Place the child’s diaper bag or item in the front passenger seat as a visual cue that the child is with you.
• Make it a habit of opening the back door every time you park to ensure no one is left behind. To enforce this habit, place an item that you can’t start your day without in the back seat (employee badge, laptop, phone, handbag, etc.).
• Ask your childcare provider to call you right away if your child hasn’t arrived as scheduled. 
• Clearly announce and confirm who is getting each child out of the vehicle. Miscommunication can lead to thinking someone else removed the child.

Lt. Nicholas Davis at the Columbus Division of Fire says parents should not leave a child in a car, even for a few minutes.

“I know people are busy in their day-to-day lives and think, ‘Let’s run into the store for a quick two minutes.’ But then two minutes turns into 15 minutes, and 15 minutes on a hot day like today is deadly, especially for a child,” he said.

Detectives are continuing to gather the facts of the case. Then, prosecutors will decide whether charges will be filed.