By Minyvonne Burke — NBC News
A 2-year-old Florida girl who fell asleep in her car seat died after her parents allegedly left her in the hot vehicle on purpose for 14 hours, according to authorities.
The girl's parents, Kathreen Adams, 23, and Christopher McLean, 32, were arrested and charged with child neglect, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Additional charges are expected, Holmes County Sheriff John Tate said at a news conference Wednesday.
Deputies responded to a home in the Florida Panhandle community of Prosperity at 3:43 p.m. on Tuesday after a "hysterical woman" called 911, according to the sheriff, who said the 911 operator was unable to get information from the woman because she was screaming.
The officer who responded to the call found a person carrying the 2-year-old girl who was unresponsive at the home. The officer immediately began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until emergency medical services arrived and took over, but the girl was pronounced dead shortly after.
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The mother initially told deputies she found her daughter inside the home unresponsive. The sheriff said the girl's temperature was 107 degrees "so we knew something didn't add up."
During the investigation, authorities found that the girl had been in the car for about 14 hours. In the end, Adams told deputies she had left work around midnight and gone to a relative's house along with her husband to pick up the 2-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother, and then they went home.
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"The baby was asleep in the car seat. They decided to leave her in the car and went inside and ultimately fell asleep and didn't wake up or realize the girl was in the car until around 3:41 that afternoon," the sheriff explained, adding that Adams left the baby "on purpose" in the car "throughout the night."
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McLean was uncooperative and invoked his rights "and did not want to make a statement or speak to us at the time," the sheriff said of the girl's father.
According to him, there are some discrepancies about what time the couple actually found the girl and when 911 was called. Adams also said the 4-year-old got out of the vehicle and into the home.
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"We don't have any proof whether he was in the car or in the house. That's something we're still trying to figure out," the sheriff said of the 4-year-old.
Authorities found methamphetamine, marijuana, CBD gummies and drug paraphernalia at the couple's home, the sheriff told reporters. Adams told authorities she and McLean smoked marijuana after entering the home.
Asked if he had a message for the community, the sheriff said, "Don't use drugs. I sincerely believe that methamphetamine, drugs are to blame for this death."
"That's what happens when you use drugs, you lose the sense of what's happening in reality and these kinds of things happen. Probably, if they had not used drugs, we would not be here today," he said.
The 4-year-old boy was taken into custody by the Department of Children and Families.