Utah toddler dies at Las Vegas resort after being left in hot car

Stock image, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A 3-year-old Utah boy died Saturday after he was left in a parked car at a Las Vegas resort in triple-digit temperatures.

The Clark County coroner identified the toddler as Chase Lee, of Fillmore, Utah, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The incident was reported just before 5 p.m. Saturday at the Grandview timeshare resort located at 9940 S. Las Vegas Blvd., Lt. Carlos Hank of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told the Review-Journal.

The boy’s parents had left him in the car in the resort parking lot for more than an hour, Lt. Roger Price, of the Special Victims Unit, told FOX5. By the time the parents realized the boy was still in the vehicle, Price said it was too late when they went back to check on him.

The child suffered heat-related injuries and was taken to St. Rose Dominican Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

“After investigating this, at this time it appears it’s just a tragic accident,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Roger Price said. “We have a very large family that came to town and appears to maybe have lost track of one of the juveniles. And unfortunately, by the time they found out what happened, too much time had already passed.”

The parents were visiting Las Vegas as part of a large family reunion, authorities said, and they lost track of the child.

The windows in the vehicle were up, and the child was in a car seat, the Review-Journal reported.

Investigators said the temperature during the 4 p.m. hour in the area was 114 degrees, and the temperature inside the vehicle with the windows up can reach 170 degrees.

As temperatures start to climb, the number of children who die in vehicles also starts to rise. KidsAndCars.org has now documented 23 children who have died this year in the U.S. due to heatstroke in a vehicle.

Since 1996, at least 12 child deaths due to vehicular heatstroke have occurred in Utah, Kidsandcars.org representatives said.

Last month, 2-year-old Abraham Royal died in Washington County after he had been left in a family van for at least six hours as temperatures climbed to 105 degrees. The toddler and his family had been visiting from Preston, Idaho, as part of a family reunion, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

In August 2014, 11-month-old Skyah Suwyn, of Hurricane, died after being left in her mother’s vehicle in Washington County.

Studies done by the Department of Earth & Climate Sciences show a car’s temperature can increase by 19 degrees in just 10 minutes — and will continue to rise. According to authorities, vehicles can reach life-threatening temperatures in just minutes as children overheat three-to-five times faster than adults.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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11 Comments

  • hiker75 July 18, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    This incident is not accidental. It is criminal.

  • utahdiablo July 18, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    Just a Tragic accident? BS….this is happening all too often now, so what the hell, you decide you don’t want to raise your child anymore so you lock them in a hot car and claim it’s a accident? BS

  • old school July 18, 2017 at 9:48 pm

    Courts and lawmakers need to stop protecting negligent parents. If you run over a strangers kid it’s “manslaughter”, if your own kid it’s just a “dreadful accident”.

  • Mike Carter July 18, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    Seems like this is all too common now, unless your black nothings gonna happen. Makes me sick, how many other kids do they have in jeopardy? From fillmore, probably from the good Ole boys, nothing to see here folks another “tragic accident ” or parents are suffering enough, give me 1 minute with them. Rest in piece little one.

  • ladybugavenger July 18, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    People should stop having reunions it appears to be a distraction that you have a child in a car.

  • Dolly July 18, 2017 at 11:53 pm

    Such a sad story (again). Another large family reunion, kid left in car. Deja-vu. When I was a kid and was taken on a field trip, we were each assigned a buddy we were responsible for – there was a plan in place. Maybe these large families could implement something similar – Utah is so big on survival planning and food storage…aren’t the kids as important?

    • Real Life July 19, 2017 at 10:57 am

      Was thinking the same thing.

  • knobe July 19, 2017 at 6:26 am

    Not knowing where your 3 year old is NOT an accident . . . It IS gross negligence .
    Another example of people who should never have been breeders .

  • ladybugavenger July 19, 2017 at 11:07 am

    This is the greatest form of neglect and authorities dismiss it as an accident… it’s a great tragedy that seams to be addressed as an accident and is simply not an accident. It’s gross neglect that causes death.

  • Travis July 19, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    I just don’t understand !!! Whenever I got together with my family, the first thing we all did was greet each other and l would look for all my nieces and nephews, FROM THE DAY THEY WERE BORN !!!! All 8 were “accounted” for at EVERY family gathering. I just don’t understand!!!!!

  • DB July 19, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    This will sound cruel, BUT, parents, don’t bear more children than you can keep track of. This isn’t the 1860s. Infant mortality is much lower now.

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