New Jersey man charged after 8-week-old daughter dies in hot car

A New Jersey man has been arrested for the death of his 8-week-old daughter, who, prosecutors said, had been left inside a hot car as temperatures in the area soared past 90 degrees.

Avraham Chaitovsky was charged with a count of endangering the welfare of a child, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a press release on Tuesday. He’s accused of leaving his infant daughter in his car while he was in the Kollel Cheshek Shlomo synagogue in Lakewood, News 12 New Jersey reported.

Officers with the Lakewood Township Police Department responded to a call Monday about a child in cardiac arrest on New Egypt road, according to Billhimer. When they arrived just after 2 p.m., Hatzolah Medical Services — a private ambulance service — were already on the scene and attempting to perform life-saving measures on the unresponsive baby girl.

They were ultimately unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead on the scene.

Authorities “determined that the infant – Chaitovsky’s daughter – was left alone in his vehicle for an extended period of time,” the press release said. “The investigation further determined that the act of leaving the infant in the car unattended for such a long period of time was the cause and manner of the infant’s death.”

Chaitovsky was arrested the following morning and booked into the Ocean County Jail in Toms River. Additional charges are possible, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The tragedy occurred amid an intense heat wave that has gripped most parts of the country for days. Like much of New Jersey, Lakewood has been under an excessive heat warning since Sunday and it is expected to continue through at least Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

On Monday, temperatures in the area climbed as high as 97 degrees, though the heat and humidity made many spots feel closer to 103-106 degrees.