HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — An infant boy died on Friday after being left in a hot car in Hernando County — north of the Tampa Bay area — officials told WFTS.
Authorities responded to the scene just after 11 a.m. Friday after receiving a call about an infant who had just been removed from a hot car.
Hernando County Sheriff’s Office officials say 9-month-old Keyton O’Callaghan was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced dead at 12:06 p.m.
Investigators say that Keyton had been in the care of his mother, Cami Lee Moyer, 38, since Thursday night.
HCSO says that the infant’s father, Eric O’Callaghan, 32, came home and found Keyton in the vehicle parked on the driveway in front of the home.
Deputies say O’Callaghan took the infant inside where he began performing CPR on the child while he was on the phone with 911. He continued to perform CPR until medics arrived and took over.
At this time, officials do not know how long Keyton was left in the car. Detectives are still working to establish a chronological timeline of events.
“If you think you might forget, put a shoe back there. Take it off your foot and put it back there. Put your phone back there,” Denise Moloney with HCSO said. “It’s sad to say, but you’re going to remember your phone, how are you not going to remember your child?”
Investigators are currently interviewing Moyer and say it is possible that she will face charges.
Moyer called her child a “miracle baby” on a GoFundMe page she created last year. It states Keyton beat the odds, given only a 20 percent chance to survive after contracting a virus in the NICU.
The official temperature in nearby Brooksville was recorded at 86 with a feels-like temperature of 97 in the 11 a.m. hour on Friday.