A six-month-old baby has tragically died after allegedly being left in a hot car by a neighbour.

Travis Carter Jr was pronounced dead at the scene in Cordes Lakes, Arizona, US, at around 9pm on Tuesday (30 July).

He was found in the back seat of a neighbour’s car, after they claimed to have forgotten to drop him back with his father.

The neighbour, identified as a teenager, has since been arrested and charged with negligent homicide.

According to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, Travis’s mother, Aleesia Phillips, had asked the teenager to drive her to Prescott Valley which is a half-hour car ride within the state of Arizona.

Aleesia took Travis with her, but after he fell asleep, she allegedly told the neighbour to drop him back at his father’s house when she went off to work.

The neighbour then set off back home, arriving at around 2pm and parking the car in their driveway.

Police said that they ‘parked the car exposed in the hot sun and went into their house, claiming to forget about the baby in the car’.

Almost seven hours later, at 8:45pm, it’s reported that Travis, the baby’s dad, called Aleesia, asking what time he could expect the neighbour to drop his son off.

Only then did the couple realise what was going on, and that the baby had allegedly been left in the car for all these hours.

The child was just six months old. (Getty Stock Image)

Police said: “The neighbour ran next door to the father’s house and both the father and neighbour pulled the baby out of the car, called 911 and tried CPR.”

On Thursday (1 August), the juvenile was charged and hasn’t been named due to their age.

Authorities said there is an ongoing investigation into the circumstances of the child’s death.

Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence as Kids and Car Safety recorded at least 1,083 hot car deaths between 1990 and 2023, with 29 deaths taking place last year and 36 in 2022.

A GoFundMe for the boy’s memorial has been set up and reads: “Travis Carter Jr., parents Aleesia Phillips and Travis Carter could use financial support with funeral/memorial costs.

“If you cannot donate please share. Prayers are very welcome during this very devastating time.”

At the time of writing, it has raised $2,675 out of its $10,000 target.

If you wish to donate, you can do so here.

Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said: “After Deputies and the Fire department arrived on the scene, they immediately confirmed the 6-month-old baby was deceased. Criminal Investigations arrived a short time later and gained the following information. The child’s mother asked a neighbor for a ride into Prescott Valley, along with her 6-month-old baby. On the way back from Prescott Valley the baby fell asleep in the car seat in the back seat of the neighbor’s car. The neighbor was asked to drop the baby off with his father who would be home shortly. The neighbor arrived home at around 2:00 PM parked the car exposed in the hot sun and went into their house, claiming to forget about the baby in the car. The father of the baby contacted the mother around 8:45 PM asking when the neighbor was going to deliver the baby to him. The mother, still at work, immediately called the neighbor responsible for her baby, it was then the neighbor realized that the baby was left in the car. The neighbor ran next door to the father’s house and both the father and neighbor pulled the baby out of the car, called 911 and tried CPR. The baby had been left in the car seat strapped in the back seat of the neighbor’s car for approximately seven hours. The Medical Examiner responded to the scene to conduct their investigation of the deceased baby. Criminal Investigations has an ongoing investigation into the circumstances and will be submitting the case to the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.”

After returning from his holiday, a man was shocked when he saw that his car was ‘written off’ after leaving it at the airport meet and greet.

Ioan Williams drove his white Range Rover to Manchester Airport on 9 August with his two children, Ela and Sion, as they were travelling to the popular Spanish holiday destination of Alicante.

The father left his Range Rover with the meet and greet service, and highlighted later that it ‘didn’t have a scratch on it’.

But to his dismay, just one week later, he arrived back to news that there was ‘an incident’, and while he expected to find something minor, he found that the driver’s side wheel was at a weird angle.

He explained: “I left the car with them on the ninth of August. This is the official meet and greet and Terminal 2 and a camera goes around your car before you get in to the car park to assess if (there’s) any previous damage.

“My car didn’t even have as much as a scratch on it. I dropped my keys off inside the terminal where they give me a receipt for. We then went away on our holiday.”

But on 16 August, Ioan landed back in Manchester at 1am, and was greeted by three men in a van who broke the bad news to him.

The 44-year-old said that upon landing, he went to get some coffee with some friends who had also parked at the meet and greet.

After scanning his barcode to access his keys, it read ‘seek attention’, and knowing that something wasn’t right, he thought the worst.

“I instantly knew something was u,p and thought that my car had been stolen but he said one of ‘our drivers have kerbed your wheel’. I thought ‘oh God’ and said ‘I hope you’re going to paint it’.”

Chillingly, the man replied: “I think you need to have a look at it,” and that’s when it really hit the fan.

Ioan revealed: “When we walked up to the car, I noticed that the angle of the wheel wasn’t right, and obviously been involved in a high impact and I stated this to him. He agreed and said that the driver has been dealt with but there weren’t any cameras in that area.”

Repairs would cost Ioan near £16,000 (Reach)

Noting that the car wasn’t drivable, the dad said that they paid for the family’s taxi as they had to leave the Range Rover behind, only getting home at 5am.

Despite Ioan revealing that he has been in discussions with his insurance company, who have been helpful, the cost of repairs essentially meant that his off-road car was a write-off at £15,800 in total.

Ioan added: “I loved that car, I bought it for myself for my 40th. Although I’ve been paid out for the car, it’s not the point, I didn’t want to get rid of it.”

“Manchester Airport refunded the £149.99 I paid to park there. But I haven’t had an apology email/letter from them or an offer of compensation whatsoever. I’m there quite often but I’ll never use their meet and greet service again,” he damningly stated.

Manchester Airport are currently in discussions with the customer, as their insurers are working to find a resolution with the customer’s insurance company.

They declined to comment to Reach on the specific case, but detailed that it was normal for an apology to be issued after the situation has been 100 percent resolved.

LADbible has reached out to Manchester Airport for comment, who said: “We can’t comment on specifics because it’s an ongoing process – it’s being handled by our insurers at the moment.

“We’ve been in touch with Mr Williams to apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

A woman has issued a terrifying warning after defrosting her car outside of her home.

Like many drivers do in the winter months, Kasia Wasilewska, 34, briefly popped back into her home in Bentilee as her Nissan Juke was de-icing.

While the mum was getting an ice scraper from inside the house, her 10-year-old son Fabian was holding the keys besides the car.

The pair were heading to church at around 10.35am on Sunday (December 3).

But when the mum had returned to the vehicle, her son was left seriously shaken up.

Fabian told her a man had approached him, snatched the car keys and pushed him out of the way, before driving away.

The mum’s bank card, ID and driving licence were still in the car and the thief attempted to use Kasia’s card to buy a Greggs at a nearby petrol station.

Thankfully she notified her bank and the card was declined.

A 49-year-old man from Stoke-on-Trent has been arrested on suspicion of taking a car without the owner’s consent.

BPM Media

Kasia, who works for a debt collection agency in Stoke, said: “What has happened to us is horrible. It’s such a shock. Fabian was pushed out of the way. He was in shock because he didn’t know what was going on.

“Thankfully he wasn’t hurt but he’s still thinking this was his fault when I explained there is nothing he could have done.

“I’d been taking snow off the windscreen and went back in the house to get something to clear the front windscreen.

“When I came back outside I said what’s going on and at first I thought the car had skidded along the road because of the ice. My son said a man had told him to get out of the way, taken the keys out of his hand, pushed him out of the way and then jumped into the car.

“The car was driven off and I called the police straightaway. An attempt was made to use my bank card at a Greggs at a petrol station on Longton Hall Road in Blurton about 40 minutes later.

“We were getting ready to go to church to do preparation for my son’s Holy Communion and we were going to go out for tea and cake afterwards. We couldn’t go as we had to wait for police to speak to us.”

BPM Media

Kasia added: “I believe there have been a few incidents of cars being stolen when someone was defrosting them. I just want to make people aware of this so it doesn’t happen to them.

“We’ve been left without a car and I am having to rely on friends for lifts to work and to take my son to school.”

A Staffordshire Police spokesperson said: “We have arrested a man after a car was stolen whilst it was defrosting in Stoke-on-Trent. It happened just before 10.45am on Sunday.

“A woman was defrosting her Nissan Juke in Bentilee. Her son was holding the keys when he was approached by a man who grabbed them off him and drove off.

READ MORE:

DRIVERS URGENTLY WARNED NOT TO TRY POPULAR TRICKS TO DEFROST CAR WINDSCREENS THIS WINTER

DRIVERS WARNED ABOUT POPULAR DEFROSTING HACK WHICH CAN CAUSE A LOT OF DAMAGE

“We started work straight away to track the car. It was found near Northcote Street on Monday (December 4). A 49-year-old man, from Stoke-on-Trent, has been arrested on suspicion of taking a car without the owner’s consent.

“He is being questioned about what happened in custody today (5 December).”

Inspector Mark Burslem, from the Stoke South local policing team, said: “Vehicle theft is a priority for all ten local policing teams across Staffordshire. We will go after those responsible and we will protect the hard-earned belongings of our communities.

“The cold weather has brought with it an increased number of reports of attempted vehicle thefts whilst cars are being left to defrost. It might be convenient to do so, but it’s also convenient for thieves and opportunists.

“We are urging everyone to stay with their vehicles whilst they are defrosting. By taking extra steps to limit the chances of being targeted by thieves, we can continue to tackle vehicle theft and make progress against those responsible.”

A former car thief has revealed the seven things people do that put their cars at risk, giving up ‘trade secrets’ that car thieves apparently swear by.

In this very expensive day and age, we do everything we possibly can do to protect our most valuable possessions.

And it’s safe to say our cars most certainly fall into this bracket.

Sadly, however, many of us have experienced the heartache of coming home to see our vehicle replaced with an empty space and a pile of broken glass.

But now, a former car thief is attempting to repair some of the damage he did in the past by revealing some top tips on keeping our cars safe.

While Steve Fuller, from the US, has been convicted six times for stealing cars, he claims he was able to successfully get away with it ‘hundreds of times’.

“I stole cars because I was on drugs, and I needed the money,” Fuller told ABC News’ 20/20.

Fuller has gone on to kick both his drug and stealing habits and is now revealing the seven things that people do that put their cars at risk – plus tips on how to prevent them being stolen or broken into.

1. Your car model might make it a target

Honda, Toyota, Acura, and General Motors vehicles were some of Fuller’s favorite cars to steal, with him explaining: “They’re easier to steal. They have good resale value so the parts are in demand. It’s as simple as that.”

2. Where you park your car

According to Fuller, car thieves avoid cars parked in front of houses or drives as they’re ‘too wide open and visible’.

While dark secluded locations, such as apartment buildings, underground parking and parking garages can be appealing to thieves because they can have their pick of vehicles in one location.

3. Car thieves dislike five things: daytime, kill switches, alarms, nosey neighbours and security cameras

Car thieves will tend to avoid things that may call attention upon themselves.

Good alarms with motion sensors, nosy neighbors and security cameras can help deter car thieves, who will simply go to other areas where they can avoid those certain things.

Getty Stock Image

4. Leaving your car running, with the keys in the ignition, unattended

This one may seem obvious, but leaving your car running unattended while warming it up in the morning is pretty much handing over your car to the thieves.

Police have also warned that leaving your keys in your car at a petrol station, even while you are pumping petrol, is an invitation to have your car stolen.

5. Leaving spare keys in your car

According to Fuller, thieves know exactly where to look for spare keys – even if they’re well hidden.

“Glove compartment, center console, door, change tray, you name it, it’s there. I found it in all those places,” the ex-thief said.

So, it goes without saying to not be leaving spare keys in the car when parked up.

Getty Stock Photo

6. Key inside your car you don’t know about

“Well, there are some vehicles that have valet keys… and a lot of people don’t know that they have a valet key inside their vehicle,” Fuller explained.

Basically, if your car has a valet key, a thief will be able to access the vehicle and drive away with ease.

7. Leaving windows open

To Fuller, a car with a window cracked opened was as good as an unlocked car.

“A window that has enough room for me to stick my fingers in, I can get out of its track by rocking it back and forth until I get it out of the track,” Fuller said.

“Then, I can pry the window out of the track enough to where I can get my arm down in there and unlock the vehicle.”