A one-year-old girl from Alabama has died after being locked for nearly three hours inside an overheated SUV – and her heartbroken mother blames herself for the tragedy.
Police in the Birmingham suburb of Homewood say 11-month-old Gabriella Gi-Ny Luong was found inside her mother’s white Lexus SUV Wednesday afternoon before being rushed to Children’s of Alabama.
According to officers, the girl’s temperature was about 105 degrees when they arrived, and the temperature inside the vehicle was about 130 degrees.
Family tragedy: Baby Gabriella Gi-Ny Luong was rushed to an Alabama hospital, where she died after spending three hours inside a hot car
Scorcher: The toddler was found inside her mother’s white Lexus SUV, where the interior temperature was just under 130 degrees
Tragedy struck just before 1.30pm Wednesday when Katie Luong approached her SUV parked on 19th Street and Oxmoor Road on Homewood, only to discover her baby daughter unresponsive inside. The child was still strapped into her car seat.
First responders who arrived on the scene attempted to revive little Gabrielle before taking her to Children’s of Alabama hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later.
According to a local business owner, the child’s family operate Genesis Nail Spa. Her mother, 31-year-old Katie Luong, usually takes the daughter to a day care center, but on that morning, she had too many things on her mind.
The witness said that the toddler was locked inside the vehicle from 10.30am to 1.30pm. The temperature outside was around 91 degrees that day, but inside the car it was closer to 130, police said.
Left behind: Baby Gabriella was still strapped into her car seat when her frantic mother arrived on the scene
Hardworking family: Katie Luong and her family own Genesis Nail Spa, and her husband also operates a seminary
On Thursday, Gabriella’s mother stated to AL.com that she blames no one but herself for her daughter’s death.
‘I want to tell everybody that I wish I was in that car seat, not her,’ Katie Luong said. ‘If I had to die for her to live, I would have done that.’
The inconsolable mother explained that she was supposed to drop her daughter off at a babysitter’s house Wednesday but was preoccupied by thoughts of an employee who recently hung himself and a close family friend who had a stroke and is still hospitalized.
Luong said she and her husband were also in the midst of planning Gabriella’s first birthday party for Sunday, which only added to her stress.
Horrible loss: Katie Luong’s family and friends described her as a doting and loving mother
Outpouring of support: A makeshift memorial has sprung up outside the couple’s business, with friends and strangers alike leaving flowers, stuffed animals and notes offering their condolences‘I had an uneasy feeling,’’ she said. ‘I told my mom I felt like something was going to happen.’
