Two-year-old boy Salomao Rodrigues Faustino dies after being left for four hours in boiling car by nursery school head in Brazil
A two-year-old boy died from agonising heatstroke after being left locked in a car in searing 32C heat outside a nursery for four hours when the owner forgot he was there.
Little Salomao Rodrigues Faustino was found close to death in the vehicle in Neropolis, in Brazil's Goais state, on February 18 when the nursery head, Flaviane Lima, remembered him and called firefighters.
Police say he had been left locked in with all the windows closed and strapped into his baby seat unable to move.
Experts calculate that after four hours the temperature inside the car would have been nearly 60C. Although he was rushed to Sagrado Coracao de Jesus Hospital, Salomao was declared dead shortly after arrival.
Kindergarten boss Lima was arrested 90km (55 miles) away after apparently attempting to flee. Prosecutors say she has been charged with manslaughter and is being held in custody at the Provisional Prison Complex of Aparecida de Goiania.
Lima had collected the tot from his home in her car before school but when she parked outside the nursery she forgot he was with her and locked him in.
Police chief Andre Fernandes confirmed: "The owner of the nursery forgot the two-year-old child inside the vehicle, who was locked in the car for four hours in the strong sun."
In a statement, Lima's defence lawyer Giovanni Caldas Vieira Machado said she was “deeply shaken, living the worst moment of her life.”
And he claimed she had tried to save Salomao's life before paramedics arrived.
He said: “There was no intention, any conscious carelessness or deliberate negligence.”
In a statement to police, Lima admitted she had forgotten about Salomao because she had been busy preparing for three new pupils.
The tot's devastated mum Giselle Faustino said: “They took my heart and joy. I can’t close my eyes without imagining your suffering. Forgive mummy, my love. I wanted to do so much for you.”
Story: NewsX