Authorities continue to investigate the tragic passing of the 2-month-old baby left unattended for hours in a hot car.
According to heartbreaking reports, Diana Sofia De Los Santos was discovered unresponsive in an SUV outside her adoptive parents’ home on June 13, 2024 in Santee, San Diego.
It’s said the young girl had been in the vehicle for a number of hours in 63F weather before she was found by a family member. The individual in question called 911, but Diana was sadly pronounced dead after being rushed to hospital.
As per the Daily Mail, the 2-month-old had recently been adopted as a newborn by Romer and Jayson De Los Santos.
The couple took Diana home on April 11, having traveled to Arizona to meet her in the hospital. Meanwhile, other sources claim the two fathers – also parents to a 2-year-old boy – embarked upon their mission to become second-time parents in November of last year.
The couple are said to have posted the following statement on their adoption website profile:
“Our hearts and home are open to providing more love to another amazing child. We want our children to grow up full of memories of playing on the beach, building sandcastles, making friends, biking to the park, going on Hawaiian cruises and learning how to raise foster kittens.”
The Daily Mail report that San Diego County Sheriff’s Office detectives are investigating who left Diana in the SUV and how she was forgotten there. At the time of writing no charges have been filed.
Romer, a senior consultant at Jama Software, and Jayson, who became a stay-at-home dad since the couple adopted their son, have been together for over 20 years.
As per truly tragic statistics gathered by No Heat Stroke, approximately 37 children in the US have died every year since 1998 from being left in hot cars.
California law imposes a $100 fine on anyone who lives a child under six in a car “where there are conditions that present a significant risk to the child’s health or safety.”
“Never leave your child alone in a car even for a second to dash into a store or to run a quick errand,” read a statement from the authorities.
“Summer routines can shift unexpectedly. Even the best parents can forget a quiet or sleeping child is in the backseat of a car.”