A 1-year-old child died after being left in a locked car in the parking lot of Frank Guzick Elementary School in Pleasant Grove. The child's mother is a teacher at the school, according to a statement from Dallas ISD.
A statement from the Dallas Police Department says that a witness observed the child unattended in a locked car around 1:20 p.m. The witness called 911, then broke a window out of the vehicle, removed the child, and started to perform CPR. Dallas Fire and Rescue arrived to taken the child to Baylor Hospital, where he or she was pronounced dead.
Although the police haven't confirmed this, FOX 4 reports that the witness was a student from a nearby school. NBC, meanwhile, reports that it was a teacher's aid.
According to a statement from Dallas ISD, the mother of the dead child is a teacher who only recently started working at Guzick. She's been placed on administrative leave by the district. Dallas ISD says it sent out a letter to parents after school telling them that both the staff and the students "were safe at all times."
"Obviously this is a very tragic situation," the statement adds. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the teacher and her family at this time, as well as the staff at Guzick Elementary."
DISD adds that grief counselors will be at the school on Monday.
Update, 11:20 p.m.: The mother, now identified as 42-year-old Vibha Marks of Balch Springs, has been arrested. Her baby, WFAA reports, was Victoria Marks. Her first birthday was yesterday. Marks is being charged with abandoning a child in danger of imminent bodily injury; her bond has been set at $50,000.
WFAA has also identified the woman who tried to save the child as Guzick teacher's aide Exenia Gomez, a Skyline High School senior. Gomez smashed the window of Marks' vehicle with a 2 x 4 she had in her truck; she held baby Victoria and performed CPR until the paramedics arrived. She told the Dallas Morning News that Victoria had been wearing flowered shorts and a pink top. She was still strapped into her carseat when Gomez found her.
