Phoenix Toddler Is First Hot Car Death of 2015

Sean Breslin
Published: April 22,2015

A Phoenix, Arizona, toddler died Monday afternoon after police say his father left him inside a hot car following a round of heavy drinking.
Authorities say James Koryor, 41, took his son into a liquor store, purchased a bottle of gin and then drank the alcohol while driving home, the Associated Press reported. When he got home, Koryor allegedly went inside and fell asleep, leaving 2-year-old Alpha Koryor and his 5-year-old brother inside. The older child escaped the hot car; Alpha was later found unconscious by his mother.
Temperatures soared as high as 93 degrees in the Phoenix area Monday afternoon, according to Weather Underground data.
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Koryor has been charged with manslaughter and child endangerment, according to AZCentral.com. Police told KPHO.com that the child was likely inside the stifling car for more than two hours.
Koryor was supposed to be taking the two boys to get haircuts, the report added.
"We're looking at a criminal element ... because we have an individual who has been drinking while he's trying to parent, and it just doesn't mix," Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump told AZCentral.com.
On average, 37 children die of heat strokes while trapped in hot cars every year, according to data compiled by Dr. Jan Null from 1998 through 2014. Last year, 30 children died while inside sweltering cars, the San Jose State University study reported.
MORE: Heat Wave in the Southwest, June 2013