Background: The daycare located at 8212 Frenchman Lane in Little Rock, Arkansas (Google Maps). Inset: Hope Jones (Little Rock Police Department).
A 62-year-old woman in Arkansas is accused of leaving a baby inside a scorching vehicle for more than eight hours, causing his death.
Hope Jones has been charged with second-degree murder, the Little Rock Police Department announced. The law enforcement agency did not release the name of the child victim.
On Wednesday afternoon, police were called to 8212 Frenchman Lane in Little Rock, Arkansas, due to a report of an "unresponsive infant." Responding officers went inside the building — a daycare — and found the child.
The baby "succumbed to injuries" at the scene, police said. His body temperature was 110 degrees, according to a police report cited by regional NBC affiliate KARK.
Homicide detectives followed, and they spoke with the establishment's owner, Jones. She said she picked the boy up at 6:20 a.m. that day from his foster mother and drove him to the daycare.
Jones reportedly conceded that she became distracted when she returned to work and left the baby inside the car seat in her pickup truck. She then apparently took a headcount of the children incorrectly and forgot about the boy for more than eight hours.
When the defendant went to her vehicle at the end of the workday, she said she found the child not moving in the car seat. She then brought the child inside the business in an attempt to save him.
Police arrested Jones, who then appeared in Little Rock District Court and paid her bond of $15,000. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 9.