The parents of a four-month-old baby who died after he was left in a hot car overnight have been charged with child cruelty.
The mum and dad drove home from shopping in San Diego, California, on Friday night with their baby in the car.
But they went inside and – incredibly – forgot about their son. It wasn't until 1.30pm the next day – when temperatures outside reached 27C - that the boy's lifeless body was found by another family member, according to reports.
The boy's mother, Jessica Quezada, 23, and father, Soto, 30, were arrested and charged with willful cruelty to a child resulting in injury/death in the boy's death.
The mother was also charted with being in possession of a controlled substance.
"In this particular case, it was an extreme case, of a child left overnight, not just a few hours," said El Cajon Police Department spokeswoman Monica Zech.
"It gets to a point where heat stroke is very deadly, and that's definitely what happened in this case. Let alone the poor child was probably very hungry. At the same time, that poor child is just cooking, basically cooking in that car."
The boy's father reportedly performed CPR in an attempt to revive the unresponsive child - but to no avail. The baby was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital a short time later.
Authorities said the couple have three other children, aged one, two and three, who have now been placed in the custody of Child Protective Services. The parents are expected to appear in court on Wednesday.