A 22-year-old American mother has been charged with second-degree murder following the tragic death of her seven-month-old baby, who was left inside a hot car.
A Tragic Discovery at a Car Dealership
Nyla Simmons allegedly left her infant daughter, Novanni Truvan Simmons, in the vehicle outside the Kia Automotive Dealership on Ledo Road in Albany, Georgia, where she worked. The incident occurred in October. Simmons reportedly left the child at the beginning of her shift and later discovered her unresponsive.
The baby was rushed to a hospital in Albany but was pronounced dead upon arrival. On the day of the incident, temperatures in Albany reached a sweltering 31C, creating deadly conditions inside the enclosed vehicle.
Investigation and Ongoing Case
Simmons was arrested on November 3 and now faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children. She is currently being held without bond at the Lee County Jail.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation joined the case on October 16. Authorities identified Simmons as a suspect through interviews and collected evidence. A post-mortem examination was conducted on October 17, but the official cause of Novanni's death is still pending further toxicology and histology results.
Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler explained the delay, stating, "If there is not any trauma to the child or injuries to the child, then a lot of time, you got to wait on tox and the histology, all of that, to come in and see what happened." The investigation remains active.
A Disturbing Pattern of Hot Car Deaths
This heartbreaking case follows another recent tragedy in the United States where a father, Christopher Scholtes, left his two-year-old daughter, Parker, inside a car for several hours. He claimed he had left her to sleep with the air conditioning running but became distracted.
The car was parked in direct sunlight in Tucson, Arizona, on a day when temperatures reached a scorching 43C. The child's body temperature was over 40C when emergency services arrived. Scholtes had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and child abuse and was due to hand himself in on November 5 but was found dead that morning.
