A woman was arrested this week in the death of her 5-year-old foster son after he was found unresponsive in a hot car in Omaha, Nebraska.
Omaha police said Juanita Pinon, 40, was charged with one count of child abuse by neglect, resulting in death, after the boy, Dionicio Perez, was discovered inside the vehicle just after 5 p.m. local time Wednesday.
Child was Left Unattended in the Car for 7 Hours While Pinon was at Work
The car had been in a parking lot outside of the beauty salon where Pinon works, police spokesman Chris Gordon told NBC News, adding that the child had been left unattended in the car for approximately 7 hours while Pinon was working.
The child was found in an unresponsive condition inside the SUV at an Omaha strip mall. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. Pinon worked at a nail salon in the strip mall. She is currently being held by the Douglas County Department of Corrections on a $2 million bail.
Dionicio was the youngest of six children, the oldest of whom is 19 years old, according to court records. Two years ago, their biological mother told a Douglas County juvenile court judge that she no longer believed she could safely care for them. She signed over power of attorney for the three youngest kids to Pinon, a family friend, as reported by KPLC.
A post-mortem exam is being conducted to determine whether the boy died of heat exposure or from another cause, Gordon said Friday.
Hot Car-Related Child Deaths in 2024
If he died from the heat, that would make him at least the 10th child to die in a hot car in 2024, according to KidsAndCars.org, a non-profit group dedicated to saving the lives of children in and around vehicles.
In Omaha on Wednesday, the temperature hit 89 degrees F. But the temperature inside cars can be much hotter than outside, said Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org.
