3-year-old Georgia boy dies after being found in hot car outside Wendy’s, coroner says

Columbus, Ga — A 3-year-old Georgia boy died after he was left in a hot car outside a Columbus Wendy’s on Sunday, police said.

The child, Kendrick Engram Jr,. had been in the car for about 2 hours and 45 minutes by the time he was found dead, Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan told ABC News.

Engram Jr. had spent Sunday with his grandmother and three sisters, Bryan said. The three sisters and grandmother arrived to the house at around 5:30 p.m., leaving the child in the car, Bryan said

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“At about 8:15 p.m., the grandmother called out to the children and asked about a headcount, and nobody knew where Kendrick was,” Bryan said.

At around this same time, the children’s uncle borrowed the grandmother’s car to drive to Wendy’s, according to Bryan.

The uncle was inside the Wendy’s when, at about 8:30 p.m., the grandmother called and asked if he had Kendrick, Bryan said. The uncle said that he didn’t, and she asked him to check the car, Bryan said.

The uncle then checked the car, where he found Kendrick unresponsive, and called 911.

Bryan told ABC News his office plans to rule Kendrick’s death heat-related. The temperature reached the 90s on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

This marks the seventh child to die in a hot car in the U.S. this year, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.

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