EDMONTON – Police have concluded their investigation into the death of a three-year-old girl found in a parked vehicle Tuesday and have determined the incident to be non-criminal.
On Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) said the results of the autopsy, performed that afternoon, are consistent with that determination.
Investigators have determined that the child was not left in a vehicle by a parent or guardian and that the vehicle involved was not locked.
The EPS investigation into this case is now closed and police will not be able to comment further on the circumstances of the death as it is non-criminal.
Shortly before 7 p.m. on Tuesday, police were called about a three-year-old girl in medical distress.
It was reported to police that the young child was found unresponsive in a parked vehicle outside a townhouse complex in the area of 29 Street and 116A Avenue.
On Tuesday, the city saw temperatures rise above 30°C.
EMS treated and transported the child to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
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It’s not known who rescued her or how long she had been in the vehicle. However, one neighbour who lives in the complex says she and her husband came home shortly before 6:00 Tuesday night, and about 10 minutes after that “you could hear the mom screaming ‘call 911, call 911,'” said Nicole Houle, who has lived in the complex for about a year and a half.
Shortly after that, Houle heard sirens and says numerous police vehicles arrived on scene, as well as firetrucks and an ambulance.
Paramedics performed CPR and tried to hydrate the child before she was taken by ambulance to the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
“When they pulled her out on the stretcher and they were pumping her chest, that just kind of hits you. It hits you where it hurts, because what if that was my kid?” Houle said Wednesday afternoon. “It was just heartbreaking to watch.”
Edmonton Police Service (EPS) Acting Staff Sergeant Scott Jones says the young child died in hospital Tuesday evening.
“It’s a horrible tragedy, obviously, for the family. It’s very difficult for the first responders on EMS, on EFD (Edmonton Fire Department), on first responding police officers,” says Jones.
Houle says the young girl had three siblings, one older and two younger. Houle and her husband used to call the three-year-old ‘the singer.’
“She used to sit in the yard and she would just kind of, she’d sing,” Houle recalls. “She was singing notes, just tunes, and she’d ride her bike back and forth with her sister just doing her ‘la, la, las’ back and forth.”
Edmonton Police say this wasn’t the only case involving children being found inside vehicles during very high temperatures.
In a separate incident Tuesday afternoon, three boys, between six and two years old, were found inside of a vehicle outside of a Home Depot at Edmonton’s south side. They were removed from the vehicle. Their mother has been charged under the Child Youth Family Enhancement Act for three counts of wilfully causing a child to be in need of intervention.
Edmonton Police are sending another reminder not to leave children unattended in vehicles during hot temperatures.
“I don’t want to keep saying the same thing over-and-over again, but when it’s sweltering hot outside we need to make sure that kids aren’t anywhere near a vehicle,” explains Jones.
According to Global meteorologist Nicola Crosbie, Tuesday was the highest humidex ever recorded in Edmonton.
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