Florida parents arrested after baby suffers "torturous death" in hot car during Fourth of July party

A Florida couple was arrested after they left their 18-month-old daughter inside their hot car after they returned from a Fourth of July party, leading to her death, authorities said on Thursday afternoon. 

Joel and Jazmin Rondon took their three children, aged 8, 6, and 18 months, out to a Fourth of July celebration in Lakeland, about 60 miles southwest of Orlando. Upon returning to their home at around 3 a.m., the couple unloaded their Hyundai Elantra.

The mother asked her husband to bring the baby inside while she helped her other two children. After bringing stuff inside the home, the father returned to get the 18-month-old but assumed that Jazmin had brought the toddler in because all of the vehicle’s doors were closed. Assuming that the other parent had put the toddler to sleep, Joel and Jazmin went to bed.  

At around 11 a.m., Joel asked his 8-year-old to “check on the baby,” according to authorities. When the kid was unable to find the toddler, they began searching the house. Eventually he checked outside and found his daughter still strapped to her car seat but unresponsive. 

A subsequent autopsy revealed that the 18-month-old died from hyperthermia, caused by being left inside the car. The coroners office ruled the death as a homicide. Temperatures had reached an estimated 105 degrees Fahrenheit that day. 

The toddler suffered a “horrible, tragic death,” according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who said that the death was not an accident. Instead, he said it was the parent’s negligence caused by illegal drugs and alcohol that led to the incident. 

"That's a disaster waiting to happen," he said. "Here's one more person who is dead — a baby who can't help itself — because of the abuse of drugs."

The Department of Children and Families administered drug screen tests to the couple at the hospital. Joel Rondon tested positive for methamphetamines, marijuana, and alcohol.

Jazmine Rondon tested positive for marijuana and alcohol. Both parents face one felony count of aggravated manslaughter of a child. 

The Rondon baby has been the 10th child to die after being left inside a hot car this year, according to the advocacy group Kids and Car Safety.