Mother charged with murder after child dies in hot car during mom’s 8-hour work shift, docs say

A gavel sits on a desk. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

GALENA PARK, Texas -- A Texas mother was charged with felony murder after her nine-year-old daughter was left in a hot car in July. She was arrested on Friday, according to law enforcement.

Court documents said 36-year-old Gbemisola Akayinode admitted to law enforcement that she left her child in her car while she went to work in Galena Park. It happened in the gated employee parking lot of USG, a large manufacturer of industrial and building products.

The mother said she lowered the back windows halfway and left her daughter with food, a fan, water, and ice cubes, and gave her melatonin to help her sleep.

Court records showed that Akayinode told investigators she stayed inside the office and did not check on her daughter until after her eight-hour shift was over, because she was too busy.

When she left work, she found the child unresponsive and screamed for help. Her daughter was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

According to court documents, the medical examiner’s office found the young girl’s body temperature was 108 degrees. They said her cause of death was hyperthermia.

Court documents revealed Akayinode admitted it wasn’t the first time she left her daughter alone in the car while she went to work. According to court documents, she did it the day before and admitted to a total of about four times.

She claimed she couldn’t pay for daycare until she received her paycheck. However, court documents said a co-worker claimed he was helping her with money because he knew she was struggling to make ends meet.

Investigators asked Akayinode if she had checked the weather or if she knew how hot it was going to be outside. According to court documents, she said she didn’t and that it slipped her mind.

She appeared in court for the first time early Sunday morning.

According to online jail records, Akayinode is due back in court on Monday. Her bond is set at US$500,000.