Connecticut Man Arrested After Leaving Infant in Hot Car While He Worked at Strawberry Farm, Leading to Child’s Death

A Connecticut man is facing criminal charges after he allegedly left his one-year-old son in a hot car while he was working on the family’s strawberry farm.

Kevin Pell, 47, is charged with risk of injury to a child after his infant son died in Broad Brook, Connecticut.

Pell called 911 at 2:25 p.m. on Aug. 15, saying he had left the boy in the car because he was sleeping and returned to find the child “blue and not breathing,” as reported by the East Windsor Police Department.

Pell was taken into custody but later released after posting bail, which was set at $1 million. New details have now emerged in the child’s death, including information that Pell allegedly told the emergency dispatcher that he “didn’t have the AC on” when he left his son in the vehicle.

However, once officers arrived on the scene, Pell said the child was left in the vehicle with the air conditioning on because he was asleep, according to the search warrant obtained by People.

Officers said that the vehicle was parked directly in the sun with the sunroof and windows closed, making it “not habitable for the child,” read the warrant. The infant was rushed to a local children’s hospital from the scene, where he was declared deceased shortly after arrival.

Pell may be facing additional charges, as the investigation into the incident is ongoing and autopsy results for the child are still pending. As a condition of his bail, Pell is not allowed to be alone and unsupervised with any individual under the age of 18, including his other child.

He appeared in Hartford Superior Court on Thursday, Sept. 10, but did not enter a plea. Pell is expected back in court on Oct. 16.

Hot-car deaths continue to claim young lives across the United States. According to Kids and Car Safety, 23 children had died in hot vehicles nationwide by August 2026, including several infants and toddlers. Recent victims include a 2-month-old boy in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a 7-month-old boy in Monterey, Tennessee, a 15-month-old girl in Pennsylvania, and a 7-month-old girl in Vernal, Utah.

On May 20, a 2-month-old boy in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near Fredericksburg, was allegedly left inside a vehicle while his mother was working at a business. Deputies responding to a report of an unresponsive infant found the baby in a car seat inside the vehicle. The car was not running, and authorities said the heat index was high that afternoon. The child was taken to Mary Washington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The mother was subsequently arrested on charges including child endangerment and child abuse, although the investigation into the precise timeline remained ongoing.

In Monterey, Tennessee, a 7-month-old boy died in April after being left for hours inside a vehicle parked outside the Monterey Public Library. The engine was off and the windows were closed. Temperatures outside were only in the upper 70s to around 80°F, underscoring that dangerous temperatures inside a vehicle can develop even when the weather does not feel exceptionally hot. The child had been in the care of his foster grandmother, who reportedly went into the library after forgetting to drop him at daycare. She was later charged with criminally negligent homicide.

In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a 15-month-old girl was found unresponsive inside a vehicle on June 11, one of the hottest days of the year in the region. Police responding shortly after 4 p.m. found the toddler in a vehicle in Lower Nazareth Township. Temperatures in the area had reached about 93°F, with the heat index approaching 100°F, and police sources said the child had been left in the car for several hours. She was pronounced dead, and authorities launched an investigation; at the time of the initial reports, no charges had been announced.

The Vernal, Utah, case was particularly stark. On July 28, a 7-month-old girl was found unresponsive after allegedly being left inside a vehicle with the windows closed for roughly two and a half hours. According to charging documents, the father, 34-year-old Tommy Dean Platero, had intended to take his daughter to daycare but forgot to drop her off before going into a building. The outside temperature was approximately 92°F, while investigators determined that the vehicle’s interior reached between 131°F and 151°F. The infant was brought to the hospital with a recorded internal body temperature of 109°F and was pronounced dead. Platero was subsequently charged with child-abuse homicide.