Updated: Investigation Underway Into Toddler’s Death In Car
UPDATE: Police said the initial call of a child in cardiac arrest was made at about 2:21 p.m. from a fire radio. A neighbor of the child’s family is a firefighter.
When police arrived the person initiating the call was giving the child CPR, police said. Police assisted the person until EMS personnel arrived. The child was pronounced dead at the scene.
Preliminary investigation shows the child was left unattended in the car, but police do not know for how long at this time. The investigation to determine that length of time is ongoing, police said.
An autopsy is scheduled to determine the exact cause and manner of death, police said.
The death of a toddler in a car parked on Summerall Road on August 30 is under investigation by authorities.
The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office released basic details, saying only that a child fatality had occurred in the township and that it was being investigated by Prosecutor’s and Franklin Township Police detectives.
“Authorities have notified the New Jersey Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office who will be responding to conduct the investigation,” said the statement from Deputy Chief Frank Roman, from the Prosecutor’s Office. “No further details will be released at this time while investigators conduct their investigation.”
Treana Huntley, who lives across the street from where the toddler was found, said she witnessed the parents’ reactions when they realized their child was in the car.
“I heard the dad start screaming uncontrollably, and I heard the mom really sobbing,” she said. “They were just screaming in pain and anguish. She collapsed to the ground and he went over to console her.”
“It was gut-wrenching, almost made me want to break into tears,” she said. “As a mother, just hearing that pain from another mother, it was very hurtful to hear. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.”
Huntley said the incident occurred sometime before 2:20 p.m.
Huntley described the family as “beautiful.”
“I would see them all the time,” she said. “Very nice family.”
She said the death has struck the entire neighborhood.
“This whole block was very emotional,” she said.
Huntley praised Franklin Township Police and the emergency medical personnel who responded to the tragedy.
“Just to see the EMS team and the police officers consoling the mom the way they were, it just speaks to the tight knit community that Franklin Township is,” she said.
Published reports said the car in which the toddler was found was removed by authorities.
Huntley said she could see police tape around and inside the car before it was taken away.