A baby that had been left in a car for hours on a hot day by her mother has died May 18.
The baby's mother, Vibha Marks of Balch Springs, worked as an elementary school teacher in Dallas. The 42-year-old was arrested Friday on a charge of second-degree felony child abandonment.
Marks' daughter Victoria had only just celebrated her first birthday on Thursday, the day before the tragic incident. She was discovered in her mother's locked car on the school car park at 1:20 p.m. Friday, by a high school senior Exenia Gomez who works part time at Frank Guzick Elementary School, according to Dallas Morning News. Temperatures had reached up to 86 degrees that day.
Gomez told the paper: "I looked over and saw that there was a baby in there. I looked at the baby and she wasn't moving. She had dried bubbles on her face and her eyes were still looking down."
Gomez called 911 and was told to take the child out from the car and perform CPR. However, because the doors were locked, she broke into the car with a piece of wood and picked up the baby from her car seat, who was not moving or breathing. She performed CPR before paramedics arrived on the scene. The baby was taken to a hospital before being pronounced dead. An autopsy will be carried out to determine the exact cause of Victoria's death.
Frank Guzick Elementary School issued a statement regarding Marks on Friday. "Obviously, this is a very tragic situation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the teacher and her family at this time, as well as the staff at Guzick Elementary."
Marks has been placed on administrative leave as police investigate the toddler's death.
