.jpg "In recent years, only Texas has had more child deaths inside vehicles than Florida.")
In recent years, only Texas has had more child deaths inside vehicles than Florida.
AP
Less than a day after a 3-year-old was found dead inside a sweltering vehicle at a Miami Gardens preschool, the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner reported that the child’s body temperature was fatally high and ruled the death “accidental.”
The ME’s office said doctors made that determination after examining the child, speaking with police investigators and looking at the “history and circumstances” surrounding the toddler’s family.
“The cause of death was accidental hyperthermia due to being inside an enclosed vehicle,” said Veronica Melton-Lamar, records coordinator at the ME’s office. That’s the medical term for overheating.
The dead child also was identified as Shalom Tauber, 3, one of nine children whose parents, according to the Jewish news website VINnews, both work at Lubavitch Educational Center at 17330 NW Seventh Ave., where the toddler was found.
The child’s father, Menachem Mendel Tauber, 42, is a Rabbi and educator at the center, according to the Jewish website. And the mother, who hasn’t been named, works there as well.
In March, a former Miami day-care owner was sentenced to four months in jail and 10 years on probation for leaving a 2-year-old toddler in a hot van to die in the sweltering heat in 2016. It remained unclear if Tauber could face a criminal charge, but it’s unusual for the parent of a deceased child to be charged in such a tragedy.
A day after the child was found dead, center leaders and Miami Gardens Police had released very little information on the tragedy. Police said they were seeking warrants for any surveillance video that might shed light on the incident and the center released a prepared statement, saying the tragedy hit close to home and that students and teachers would be offered therapy and the help of counselors.
Multiple law enforcement sources said Tauber drove to the school with four or five of his nine children and parked the car in the lot outside of the school at about 9 am In the scramble to get to class, Shalom was forgotten.
It wasn’t until about 3 pm, or six hours later, that someone mentioned Shalom had not been seen. Tauber raced to his vehicle, where he found his son.
Temperatures in South Florida have soared this week, with Monday being one of the most unbearable days of the year so far. The temperature reached 93 degrees, the heat index 103 and the temperature inside the closed vehicle that sat for hours certainly much higher. In recent years, only Texas has had more child deaths inside vehicles than Florida.
Police said they received a call about Shalom after 3 pm, and arrived shortly before 4 pm Shalom was rushed to the hospital by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, where they confirmed his death.
Lubavitch Center Rabbi Benzion Korf said his staff was “beyond devastated.”
“No words can capture the heartbreak and sadness we feel,” he said.
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 4:46 PM.
Chuck Rabin, writing news stories for the Miami Herald for the past three decades, covers cops and crime. Before that he covered the halls of government for Miami-Dade and the city of Miami. He’s covered hurricanes, the 2000 presidential election and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting. On a random note: Long before those assignments, Chuck was pepper-sprayed covering the disturbances in Miami the morning Elián Gonzalez was whisked away by federal authorities.
Comments are closed.