A young child left in a car in a church parking lot has died.
The 13-month-old child, Paris Bena Hall, was with her foster mother. Hall’s foster mother left her in the vehicle after she parked at her place of work, Shiloh Baptist Church in Baltimore.
Charisma News reports that Hall’s foster mother intended to drop her off at the daycare across the street, but became distracted talking to someone in the church parking lot and went inside the church.
The Washington Post reports that police do not know how long the women left the child in the vehicle, but when she came back out to the car around noon, she found Hall in cardiac arrest.
The woman called 911 and attempted to perform CPR.
Hall was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead later that day.
Police are investigating the case as a possible homicide, but believe the woman’s neglect was not intentional.
Friends and neighbors of the woman report that she is devastated over the child’s death.
"Obviously you feel sorry for the child," Neighbor Nina Sonin said. "It's an innocent child. But I feel sorry for (the woman), because I can't imagine how broken-hearted she is, and I know that she was extremely distraught. I talked to her sister, extremely distraught."
Publication date: September 3, 2015