A 36-year-old Nigerian woman living in Texas, United States, Gbemisola Akayinode, has been arrested and charged with felony murder.
This followed the death of her nine-year-old daughter, Oluwasikemi, who was left inside a parked car for several hours in scorching heat.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the arrest, with Sheriff Ed Gonzalez disclosing that the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences ruled the child’s death a homicide caused by hyperthermia, a condition of severe overheating of the body.
“Today, our Homicide Detectives and Violent Criminal Apprehension Team arrested Gbemisola G. Akayinode for the murder of her nine-year-old daughter,” Sheriff Gonzalez announced on X (formerly Twitter).
“The child’s death has been ruled a homicide as a result of hyperthermia. She is charged with felony murder and booked into the Harris County Jail.”
According to court documents, emergency responders were called to an industrial complex on Mayo Shell Road in Galena Park, near Houston, on July 1, following reports that a child had been left unattended inside a vehicle.
The girl was taken to Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Investigations revealed that Akayinode arrived at work around 5:45 a.m. and left her daughter inside the vehicle with food, water, a rechargeable fan, and ice cubes.
She reportedly gave the girl melatonin to help her sleep before heading into her workplace.
The child was found unresponsive around 1:53 p.m., after being in the vehicle for more than eight hours on a 99°F (37°C) day.
Akayinode allegedly told detectives she brought her daughter to work because she couldn’t afford childcare, but investigators later discovered that her supervisor had been assisting her financially with daycare expenses.
She remains in custody at the Harris County Jail as investigations continue.