A 36-year-old Nigerian woman living in Texas, Gbemisola Akayinode, has been arrested and charged with felony murder after her nine-year-old daughter, Oluwasikemi Akayinode, died from hyperthermia — a condition caused by extreme heat — after being left inside a car for several hours.
The Harris County Sheriff, Ed Gonzalez, confirmed the arrest on October 17 in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences had ruled the child’s death a homicide.
“Our Homicide Detectives and Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT) arrested Gbemisola G. Akayinode for the murder of her nine-year-old daughter,” he wrote.
According to the sheriff’s report, police responded to a distress call on July 1 at an industrial complex on Mayo Shell Road in Galena Park, near Houston, where the child was found unresponsive inside a vehicle. She was taken to LBJ Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Court documents obtained by ABC News revealed that Oluwasikemi had been left alone in the car for more than eight hours on a 99°F (37°C) day while her mother worked at a nearby manufacturing plant.
Gbemisola allegedly arrived at work around 5:45 a.m., leaving her daughter in the car with food, water, ice cubes, a rechargeable fan, and melatonin to help her sleep. She also rolled the windows halfway down.
When Gbemisola returned to the car around 1:53 p.m. after her shift, she reportedly found the child blue and unresponsive and screamed for help.
Further investigations revealed that the mother had taken her daughter to work on several occasions because she could not afford daycare until her next paycheck.
However, court documents contradicted her claim, indicating that her foreman had already been covering daycare costs for her.
Reports from KHOU11 stated that Gbemisola initially blamed her daughter’s death on prescription medication for ADHD, though she later admitted to giving the child melatonin both the night before and that morning.
Daily Mail added that she had placed a shade on the car’s front window, preventing anyone from noticing the child inside.
Emergency responders attempted CPR before rushing Oluwasikemi to Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, where she was declared dead. The medical examiner confirmed her death was caused by hyperthermia.
Her case is among several recent child deaths linked to hot car incidents in Texas. In early July alone, four similar cases were recorded.
In one instance, a mother claimed her two children died in a vehicle after wandering inside while she slept.
Another case in August involved a woman accused of intentionally leaving her 15-month-old baby in a car, resulting in the infant’s death.
Authorities have since emphasized the importance of child safety awareness, urging parents and caregivers to avoid leaving children unattended in vehicles, especially during extreme heat.