A Florida babysitter was arrested after being accused of leaving an infant in a vehicle on a hot summer day.
Rhonda Jewell was charged with aggravated manslaughter in connection to the death of 10-month-old Ariya Paige, First Coast News reported.
The incident happened in July, and authorities said the babysitter forgot the child in a hot SUV in Macclenny, Florida. As local news reported, Jewell was tending to other kids inside a house at the time.
According to reports, Paige was inside the vehicle for about five hours. She was discovered when her mother came to get her. An incident report shows the baby’s skin was hot, and the temperature inside the car was “over 133 degrees.”
“There was one of the EMT’s on the gurney, and she was giving Ariya CPR, but she was crying,” Pam Paige told First Coast News. “As a medical professional myself, I knew that wasn’t a good sign.”
Speaking to the outlet, Pam Paige said she was informed her granddaughter died at the hospital. Paige’s family since has been calling for justice and hired an attorney. They held a rally last month, holding pink signs that read: “Justice For Ariya” and “Always in Our Hearts,” according to WJXT-TV.
“I just don’t want any other babies or any other children to ever experience what Ariya did,” her mother, Brooke Paige, said. “It hurts. I hate that Ariya had to go through it, and there was nothing I could do.”
Per First Coast News, Jewell appeared before a judge and paid a $25,000 bond.
In August, a 62-year-old man was charged after leaving a 1-year-old child in a van outside a Nebraska daycare, resulting in her death.
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