A heartbreaking event occurred in New Jersey when a four-month-old baby tragically lost his life after being left alone in a hot car for a prolonged period. The child’s father, Moshe Ehrlich, has been accused of child endangerment in relation to the incident, as reported by law enforcement authorities.
The exact length of time the baby was left unattended in Ehrlich’s Toyota minivan on a Tuesday in Lakewood is yet to be revealed by investigators. On the day of the incident, the local temperature reached a peak of 63 degrees. Witnesses and local news coverage indicate that the vehicle was parked directly in the sun.
The local police department in Lakewood received a distress call about an unresponsive child around 1:45 p.m. Officers were dispatched to a residential area near Fifth Street, located between Monmouth and Princeton avenues. This location is near a kosher supermarket and two synagogues. Ehrlich’s home is reportedly three blocks away from where the van was parked.
Upon reaching the scene, the officers discovered Hatzolah Medical Services attempting to administer lifesaving aid to the baby. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed this in a statement. The child was then rushed to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, where he was later declared deceased.
Further inquiries by detectives led to the conclusion that the baby was left alone in the vehicle for a significant amount of time. Ehrlich was arrested on Thursday and charged with child endangerment after he turned himself into the police. He was released by a judge a few hours following his arrest.
The family has yet to respond to any inquiries regarding the incident. The name of the baby has not been released by the investigators.