Moraga police confirmed Wednesday that their investigators and Contra Costa County Coroner’s deputies are looking into the death of a 18-month-old child found outside a Hardie Drive home Tuesday.
Police Chief Jon King said his officers were sent to the residence in the unit block of Hardie Drive at 3:50 p.m. Tuesday after dispatchers reported a person screaming and crying in the background of a call for help from that location.
The first officer on the scene discovered the child, who was not breathing, and initiated rescue breathing for the infant before turning life-saving procedures over to Moraga-Orinda Fire paramedics, who arrived on the scene shortly after the officer.
King said the child was taken to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek but was later declared deceased.
The chief said the incident is under investigation by his department and that the Contra Costa County Coroner’s office is working to determine the precise cause of death.
Investigators have determined that the female child was inadvertently left in a vehicle for an extended period of time by a family member. The child was discovered in the vehicle by the family member after several hours. When the child was found, the family member immediately called 9-1-1 for help. The outside temperature at the time officers responded to the scene was approximately 80 degrees, police said.
We’ll have more on this story as information develops.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Lieutenant Brian South at 925-888-7052.
How sad and tragic. In the words of Marc Klass “not everybody should be a parent.” I totally agree.
Totally concur with the “sad and tragic” part of your statement but urge caution as we’re still uncertain of the “chain of custody,” who actually was responsible for the child at that time (nanny, junior family member, etc.), on this story. Definitely not the outcome we were hoping for.
For the love of all that’s good, please read this soul-crushing article before opining. There is *zero* correlation between anything, not race, age, income, education, or even actual sobriety, and leaving a kid in the car. The only commonality is that someone was operating outside their own routine. That one would “never” do this simply isn’t borne out in the statistics.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html?utm_term=.3c0ec2dacc72
Please don’t refer to the child as “it”
THATS what you find objectionable?
Was it hot in Moraga yesterday?? This is terrible and we can only hope this family — and that officer — and those firefighters —- are getting some help with this. Just a horrible thing and we are holding them all in our hearts.
About 80 degrees at the time of occurrence, Siobhan.
Cara quickly can heat up to unbearable temperatures, even on mild days
Crying. And following. RIP
Several scenarios come to mind — none of them good. This is just so sad and tragic. Hoping the family and yes those who tried to help get the support they need now.
May God Bless this child and the emergency responders who tried to keep her with us. I’m heartbroken.
It is well past time for you to institute a real name comment policy. My God, some people are just unbelievable.
Who… or what… is drawing your attention/ire, Drew?
Leaving a child in the car is irresponsible. Responsible parents don’t do this, and it angers me. This death was preventable.
As far as “real name” (if that was directed towards me) admin has my name, and they have since day one. Also -, not everyone using a “first and last name” – exposed to other readers is using their real name. People use fictitious names all the time. I guess he thinks it’s his site. If he doesn’t understand the harm of exposing your real first and last name on the internet, he’s not thinking very clearly. It’s especially concerning to women.
If my comments upset anyone, they’re all entitled under “Danielle.” Please don’t read them. Thank you.
With very few exceptions, parents don’t leave their children in cars on purpose. Children fall asleep, parents become distracted, and tragedy occurs. I am a parent and, although I never left my kids in the car, I understand how it can happen. Ideally, car manufacturers would install a warning system that would alert parents that there are kids still in the car; I’m not sure why this hasn’t already been invented. But to say that parents who accidentally leave their children in cars and suffer the tragic consequences shouldn’t be parents shows a lack of understanding of how this happens in the first place.
You might want to do a little research on the alarm when children are left in car because I saw something on this not too long ago and I am almost certain that they are working on making it mandatory on all new autos manufactured in the not too distant future. I would research it for you but I am short on time right now. Good luck.
Please read the WaPo article to which I linked. If you think you — as a responsible parent — could never, ever do this, congratulations, you are just like every parent who ever did this.
Danielle, your comment is not only insensitive, it’s uninformed, incorrect and dangerous. I pray by God’s grace you never have anything tragic happen in your life that would warrant compassion from your neighbors.
Sarah – You’re right. It is insensitive. I don’t understand as a parent (whose kids are grown) how you can forget a baby in the car, and not realize that you don’t have your baby in the house. It’s very foreign to me, and it saddens me. My compassion is for the children, not the parents. That’s just me…
Condemning things you don’t understand is for the ignorant.
The bereaved parents unfortunately don’t have the luxury of avoiding a harsh and judgmental comment posted first by someone who couldn’t wait to place blame on people she doesn’t know and even had to make up a non-existent quote by Marc “Klass” to cause more anguish. I guess I’m old-fashioned, but to me one would be a coward to post something that has no purpose other than to hurt that family and to do it anonymously. That’s nothing more than a troll.
If you’re worried about your safety, refrain from posting such useless and hurtful nonsense. Problem solved.
If you’re on the Moraga Planning Commission – we’ve actually met. I grew up in Moraga, and my elderly parent(s) are in Sanders Ranch. You’re a lawyer, and you can control in court – but you can’t control me. We’ve met on BART. You take it daily from Orinda, and I drive and take BART from Orinda – depending on the day.
It’s not “non-existent” Marc Klass was quoted on Nancy Grace. She’s a lawyer too, and she had Marc Klass on her program (on a regular basis) regarding missing kids, kids left in cars, etc. You can request the transcript or contact him through the Klass Foundation. He knows he said it. He’s a blunt, straight shooter – and after what happened to his daughter Polly – he doesn’t sugarcoat . Especially when it comes to children. His only daughter was murdered.
You and I clash, and it’s up to Mr. O’Connor what is posted, Not you. But I wish you well. Take care of your children…
Danielle – You were probably just reacting quickly to a tragic situation. Each person who is now aware of this tragedy feels awful. First for the child. But next for the parents who will have a lifetime of suffering and pain. As a parent who lost a child I feel qualified to tell you that your initial and continuing comments are both ignorant and judgmental; however you have every right to be this way. Well, up until it causes harm to others and that’s where you have crossed the line. I don’t expect that my opinion will change your perspective – you seem to enjoy the trolling behaviors – I don’t know why but I hope you find joy. In the event the parents or their family have the misfortune of reading your self-promoting, better-than-thou comments I hope they see everyone else’s comments expressing our deep empathy and sorrow for their loss and for the loss of this child.
Troy – This angers a lot of parents. I’m sorry you lost a child. As a parent, my heart goes out to you. I don’t feel my opinions are “ignorant” but I will share with you what I experienced working ER in Los Angeles straight out of grad school. A lot of neglect and abuse of children – including children who were left in hot cars in the summer. This was too long ago (prior to cable news or the internet). Unless you were reading the LA Times or watching KTLA – you never heard about it. I don’t “find joy.” My goal is to see to it that this doesn’t happen to other children. I saw it too often, and I do feel this is preventable, and I don’t feel this could happen to any parent. I was licensed with the state for a long time, and it was a profession that will “always stay with you.” And I will always be a parent. I do have compassion for any parent in this situation, and I’ve let my anger go. Have a nice evening…
Cannot imagine all the neglect and abuse you witnessed. You spoke from your concern and experience.
May – Yes, I did. Thank you for understanding.
Heard and then saw the emergency response yesterday and wondered what was up. So sorry that it was this. I can’t imagine what those parents are feeling right now. And the police and fire personale. Just an awful thing.
There but for gods grace go we.
Folks, Fair and Gentle Readers –
We are loathe to don our referee jackets here as we have always believed you capable of policing yourselves and keeping our conversations on track. We also know that can be hard when sentiments are high and emotions running hot. We live here, so we know how deeply people feel about things like this and we know you may want to talk about it. We’re all about communication but, please, remember that this is all very fresh, that a family has been hurt very deeply, and that we are not going to allow this thread to turn into a mud fight a day after a little girl loses her life. Please watch your words.
Thank you for that 24-680..
Andrew… thank you for sharing that article. That was a long, tough read. Heartaching. I cannot imagine what this family in our community must be going through, but I hope we can use our words to show them compassion and love right now, not judgement. I thought this analysis was particularly interesting in the article Andrew posted:
“People are often judged with disproportionate harshness by the public, even when it was clearly an accident, and even when it was indisputably not their fault.
Humans, Hickling said, have a fundamental need to create and maintain a narrative for their lives in which the universe is not implacable and heartless, that terrible things do not happen at random, and that catastrophe can be avoided if you are vigilant and responsible.
In hyperthermia cases, he believes, the parents are demonized for much the same reasons. “We are vulnerable, but we don’t want to be reminded of that. We want to believe that the world is understandable and controllable and unthreatening, that if we follow the rules, we’ll be okay. So, when this kind of thing happens to other people, we need to put them in a different category from us. We don’t want to resemble them, and the fact that we might is too terrifying to deal with. So, they have to be monsters.”
Food for thought, anyway… it might help us understand different reactions. Human = Imperfect. We are all capable of horrifying mistakes. I’ve had too many near misses myself. Hug your babies and grandbabies and be grateful for every sweet breath.
Sending love to this Moraga family.
Here come the tv crews.
Lost my son in Costco once and that was awful enough. I can’t even imagine what this mother is going through.
Hoping everyone involved is able to get some support. There can’t be many things more traumatic.
My neighbor and dear friend came by after I told her about this. We looked at each other and broke down. Something this hard on strangers has to be unbearable for those close to it. So so sorry.
With the exception of the stark, almost triumphant, comments…a moment of shared grief. A tragic ending.
My heart is breaking for this family. I cannot even begin to imagine the agony they must be feeling. I hope they will get support from friends , extended family and hope they can get counseling to help them through this horrible tragedy.
First with the news again but this had to be a hard story to report. The wife and I had to look twice at the headline to make sure we were seeing what we were seing.
Terrible. Sounds like it wasn’t the mother but someone else who forgot about the child. Perhaps an elderly person with emergent issues. It doesn’t sound like simple negligence by a mentally sound person. I’m waiting for more facts before passing judgment.