By Riley Walter
A one-year-old girl has been found dead in a car by a relative after being left in the vehicle outside a Sydney childcare centre for an “extended period of time”.
Emergency services were called to the centre on Marana Road in Earlwood about 5.35pm on Tuesday by a member of the public after the girl was found unresponsive by the relative.
NSW Ambulance paramedics attended, but the girl was declared dead at the scene, which was designated as a crime scene shortly after.
Superintendent Christine McDonald said while the investigation was in its infancy and the girl’s official cause of death was not yet known, information provided to police “suggests that this baby was left inside the vehicle for an extended period of time on a very hot day here in Sydney”.
“Leaving a child in a vehicle at any time can be dangerous. Leaving a child inside a vehicle for an extended period of time can be deadly,” she said.
McDonald said the male relative who found the girl had been taken to hospital in shock and had been assisting police with inquiries. The man, who has not been arrested or charged, was expected to be interviewed once his condition had improved.
The girl’s mother was assisting investigators on Tuesday night. She has not been arrested or charged. The family is not believed to be known to child protective services, McDonald said.
Police were working to establish how long the girl had been in the car and whether she was supposed to have been dropped at the childcare centre earlier on Tuesday, details that will form part of the investigation into her death.
“We need to seek that information from people that we’re currently speaking to or waiting to speak to,” McDonald said.
Police believe the girl had been left in a car for an “extended period of time” on Tuesday.Credit: TNV
McDonald said the girl’s death was an “absolute tragedy” and that support was being offered to first responders and community members.
“To the police and other emergency services who attended this incident, to the family and friends of the baby girl, to the wider community, this is an extremely traumatic event, and my thoughts are with you,” McDonald said.
“It is difficult for first responders. It’s certainly not necessarily what we train for, it’s never easy going to jobs like this but we do it, we do it day in, day out and there are support services available for our police and for our first responders. I’m very pleased to say that they are enacted straight away so the first responders that were here today, they’ve already been contacted by our chaplains and by our support services.”
McDonald said her “thoughts and prayers” were with staff at the childcare centre and parents of other children who attend the centre.
“This has rippling effects right throughout our community because so many of us can put ourselves in a similar situation,” she said.
“Most childcare centres are tight-knit. The teachers know the children and the babies so well they’re like their own family. They might not know right now who the baby girl is, but obviously, in time, they will start to identify who it is and my thoughts and prayers are with them because that will be a very, very difficult time, and I’m certain that the childcare centre will provide as much support and care that they can for all the families.”
The childcare centre, which is not accused of any wrongdoing, has been contacted for comment.
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