An entire community has been left in shock after learning that Louisiana authorities arrested a father on murder charges.
The man in question abandoned his toddler in a scorching hot car for nine hours while he slept inside his home.
32-year-old Joseph Boatman had reportedly been drinking heavily before picking up his 21-month-old daughter.
He then left her strapped in her car seat as temperatures soared past 100 degrees.
The horrific incident occurred in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, near the Mississippi state line.
According to the sheriff’s office, Boatman consumed “multiple alcoholic beverages” before picking up his daughter from a relative’s house.
After strapping the toddler into her car seat, he entered his Madisonville home and never returned to the vehicle.
It was not until around noon that a family member discovered the child unresponsive in the car. By then, the heat index had climbed well over 100 degrees.
Emergency responders rushed to the scene, but it was too late to save the little girl’s life.
Authorities have charged Boatman with second-degree murder, holding him on a $750,000 bond.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the official cause of death, though authorities have little doubt that the extreme heat played the primary role in this preventable tragedy.
This marks the fifth child to die in a hot car in the United States this year alone.
What is particularly alarming is that 88% of hot car deaths involve children 3 years old or younger.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that an average of 37-38 children die every year from heatstroke in vehicles.
In 2023, that number jumped to 39 deaths across the country, up from 29 deaths in 2022.
The years 2018 and 2019 were particularly deadly, with 53 children dying each year, the highest totals in 25 years.
Safety experts warn that vehicles can heat up by 20 degrees in just 10 minutes, even in moderate temperatures.
This quick temperature rise creates lethal conditions for small children, whose bodies heat up three to five times faster than adults.
The circumstances surrounding this case are particularly disturbing, given that alcohol consumption appears to have played a significant role.
As summer temperatures continue to rise across the country, this tragedy serves as a stark reminder of parental responsibility.
Children depend entirely on adults for their safety and protection, and no excuse, whether alcohol, distraction, or forgetfulness, can justify such negligence.
