A Nigerian woman based in Texas has been charged with murder after her 9-year-old daughter died in a hot car.
36-year-old Gbemisola Akayinode was arrested last Friday for the murder of 9-year-old Oluwasikemi Akayinode after the girl’s death was ruled a homicide as a result of hyperthermia (heat stroke), according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
Young Oluwasikemi died on July 1 after she was left in a car for over eight hours on a 99-degree day while her mother went to work at a manufacturing plant in Galena Park near Houston, according to court documents.
Gbemisola Akayinode said that when parked at work at about 5:45 a.m., she left her daughter with food, a rechargeable fan, ice cubes, and water, and lowered the car’s back windows halfway, court documents said. She gave her daughter melatonin and saw her start to fall asleep in the back seat, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Gbemisola Akayinode also said she didn’t check on Oluwasikemi until her shift ended at 1:53 p.m., but that when she reached the car, her daughter was unresponsive and blue, and she screamed for help.
The accused mother said she had taken Oluwasikemi to work with her several times previously, including the day before, according to court documents. She said she brought her daughter with her because she didn’t have money for day care until her next paycheck, but investigators determined the foreman at her job was paying for day care for her, court documents said.
Officials said in July that they were waiting for the 9-year-old’s autopsy results before deciding if any charges would be filed.
Gbemisola Akayinode is due in court on Monday.
At least 30 children have died in hot cars so far this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org. At least 1,160 kids have died in hot cars in the U.S. since 1990, the organization said.
