INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

3-Year-Old Houston Boy Dies From Cardiac Arrest After Being Found In Hot Car – Houston Under Heat Advisory

By Janice Malcolm
Published on: 00:13 PST, Jun 17, 2016

The Houston Fire Department announced on Thursday that a 3-year-old boy has died after going into cardiac arrest in a hot car outside of his family’s home in north Houston. The authorities have said that the boy was in the car searching for a toy.

Ruy Lozano, spokesman for the Houston Fire Department, advised that the authorities received a call regarding the boy and the hot car at about 1:55 p.m. from the 1200 block of Hopper and were on scene by about 2 p.m. Thursday. Upon arrival, it was found that the child’s heart had stopped beating and he was rushed to the nearest local hospital, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital. Unfortunately, the boy was pronounced dead by the hospital staff shortly after he arrived there.

The KHOU media house has identified the 3-year-old boy as Evan Trapolino, a child the neighbors are recalling as an energetic being who was always on the go. The Houston Police Department spokesperson has stated that the death of Evan Trapolino is nothing more than a very tragic accident. The cardiac arrest the child suffered came because he left his house and went into the hot car, simply walking out the front door to the Volkswagen Passat while it was parked in the front of his yard. Detectives have speculated that the child climbed into the car through the front door before moving to the back seats while in search of his toy. They also believe that in the end, the boy became trapped inside of the car because the child locks on the doors were engaged.

Reports from the National Weather Service say that the temperature about the time that the child got locked in the hot car was about 94 degrees.

It seems that the total amount of time the boy spent in the hot car before being removed was about half an hour as Big Country Homepage reported that the family said when they realized he was missing and began searching for him it took about 30-45 minutes before they found his unconscious body in the backseat. However, it is possible that they did not realize he was missing as soon as he was out of their sight.

Neighbors say they heard the scream of the mother, crying for help, ring out before the family removed the 3-year-old from the car and immediately attempted to revive him with CPR. 911 was dialed and the tragedy reported. The responding personnel advised the family that the hot car had caused the body to go into cardiac arrest.

An official investigation is underway for the incident but it is very unlikely that charges will be filed in this case of a hot car death. As is the protocol in the death of a child, Child Protective Services were also called in to assess the situation and found that Evan Trapolino was the youngest of four children.

A neighbor, Chris Johnson, went on to express his feelings about the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of the 3-year-old boy saying that he hurt for the family. The neighborhood has said they will do their best to rally around the young boy’s family.

“A complete freak accident. Little boy was out playing around. Nobody saw him or heard him go outside. Anything having to do with a kid, especially a 3-year-old, it hurts.”

Efrain Lopez, the grandfather of the young boy who died, spoke to the press of his wonderful memories with his grandson, saying that he was a beautiful baby and “a lot of times we just played around and we would bring the other kids and we just played together.

The entire Southeast Texas area, including Houston, is currently under a heat advisory and highs in Houston actually reached 96 degrees on Thursday while the index, or “feels-like” temperatures soared well into the mid-100’s.

Following the incident of the cardiac arrest in the young boy trapped in the hot car the HFD issued an advisory to the public.

“We want to remind citizens that rising summer temperatures can cause an increase risk of heat stroke, resulting in brain damage and death from children being left in hot cars.”

[Image Via Shutterstock]

Share this article: 3-Year-Old Houston Boy Dies From Cardiac Arrest After Being Found In Hot Car – Houston Under Heat Advisory
More from Inquisitr