A new initiative by the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office aims to prevent kids from dying in hot cars this summer.
The constable’s office is providing free placards for rearview mirrors to drivers as a subtle reminder to check their backseats before they turn off and lock the car, Constable Alan Rosen announced Friday. His office is also teaming with the Waze navigation app and advocacy group Kids And Cars to bring awareness and other ways to help prevent what he calls a preventable tragedy
Just last year, three children died in hot cars in the Houston area. Among them, 3-year-old Raymond “RJ” Pryer, Jr. died at the now shuttered Discovering Me Academy after employees left him in the back of a daycare van for hours after a field trip. He was only discovered after his father came to pick him up and staff members couldn’t find him in the daycare center.
He was rushed to nearby Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital but died a short time later. A Harris County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson said any criminal charges against employees of the daycare are still under review, although the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences ruled Raymond’s death a homicide.
RJ’s mother, Dikeisha Whitlock-Pryer, joined Rosen Friday announcing the new initiative, saying that she hopes to prevent other children from dying like her young son.
“They had no clue that he was even missing,” she said. “That was at 6 o’clock in the evening. It was so preventable. It was so senseless.”
Already in 2019, at least 10 children have died in those circumstances nationwide.
The Kids And Cars advocacy group gave this advice for parents and caregivers to help check for kids before exiting a vehicle:
- Make it a habit of opening the back door every time you park to ensure no one is left behind
- To enforce this habit, place an item that you can’t start your day without in the back seat ‐ employee badge, laptop, phone, handbag, etc.
- Ask your child care provider to call you right away if your child hasn’t arrived as scheduled.
- Clearly announce and confirm who is getting each child out of the vehicle. Miscommunication can lead to everyone thinking someone else removed the child.
Between 1990 and 2018, Texas led the country in number of children who died after being left behind in hot vehicles, by far. Texas had 125 children die, followed by Florida with 93 and California with 58.
In 2018, Houston’s earliest incident was June 4, 2018, when the parents of 9-month-old Maria Solorio accidentally left her inside their family car in the Baytown area. The parents had just returned from a doctor’s appointment for their other daughter, and each thought the other grabbed the girl, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at the time. Neither were charged criminally.
In Humble, 2-year-old Alicia Esquivel died after being left in the backseat of her parents’ car on Sept. 15, 2018. Her parents – Olga Esquivel and Angel Esquivel-Blanco – were charged with abandoning a child after their story kept changing, according to earlier reports.
“One is too many,” Rosen said. “As a result of this, if we save one life, it would have been worth it.”
Rosen’s office is handing out the placards for free at their headquarters in downtown Houston at 1302 Preston or by visiting pct1constable.net/public-safety.