Nigerian Woman Faces Life Sentence For Leaving Daughter To Suffocate To Death In Texas

A 36-year-old Nigerian immigrant, Gbemisola Akayinode, has been charged with felony execution successful Texas aft allegedly leaving her 9-year-old daughter, Oluwasikemi, to dice from utmost vigor wrong a parked car portion she was astatine work.

According to tribunal documents, the tragic incidental occurred connected July 1, 2025, erstwhile Akayinode drove to her occupation astatine the USG Corporation mineral works successful Galena Park, a suburb of Houston, leaving her girl wrong the conveyance for much than 8 hours.

That day, outdoor temperatures reached 95°F (35°C), and by the clip archetypal responders arrived, Oluwasikemi’s assemblage somesthesia had risen to 108°F. The Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office aboriginal ruled her decease a homicide caused by hyperthermia.

Investigators revealed that Akayinode had antecedently near her girl unsocial successful the car connected astatine slightest 4 occasions, including the nighttime earlier the tragedy.

According to prosecutors, she supplied the kid with water, melatonin, and a tiny fan, but admitted during questioning that she ne'er checked connected her passim her displacement connected the time of the incident.

Authorities said Akayinode had besides placed a sunshade crossed the windshield, making it harder for passersby to spot wrong the vehicle.

“The kid was near unattended successful the conveyance for respective hours successful utmost heat,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said. “It’s a heartbreaking and preventable loss.”

When exigency responders yet arrived, Oluwasikemi was recovered unresponsive and was pronounced dormant astatine the scene.

Akayinode was arrested connected October 17 aft a months-long probe and booked into the Harris County Jail. She initially faced a $1 cardinal bond, which a justice aboriginal reduced to $500,000.

She present faces a felony execution charge, which nether Texas instrumentality carries a imaginable condemnation of beingness imprisonment if convicted.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has warned parents astir the dangers of leaving children unattended successful vehicles, emphasizing that car interiors tin go deadly wrong minutes.

“Tragedies similar this are a stark reminder that it takes lone minutes for a car’s interior somesthesia to scope fatal levels,” 1 authoritative said.

Hot-car fatalities stay a recurring interest successful the United States. According to nationalist information data, dozens of children dice each twelvemonth aft being near successful vehicles, often owed to forgetfulness oregon neglect.

Authorities accidental investigations into the lawsuit are inactive ongoing arsenic prosecutors hole for trial. The shocking incidental has drawn wide nationalist attention, raising questions astir kid safety, parental responsibility, and intelligence wellness consciousness among working parents.