Police footage shows mother's panic after leaving infant in hot car on 100-plus-degree day

No parent believes that this will happen to him or her, but time and time again this summer, stories involving children being left in hot cars have continued to emerge -- sometimes with tragic outcomes. Newly released body-cam footage captured a mother's worst nightmare: Her answering to police after they found her infant trapped alone in a hot car.

The police footage shows a dramatic scene between a mother and a police officer after she left her 5-month-old baby alone in a hot car in Goodyear, Arizona, on June 16. Stacey Holly, 37, can be seen in the video hysterically speaking to officers in the parking lot of a local Target retail store.

“I honestly don’t know how it happened. I’m freaking out. I’m sorry,” Holly said through tears after the incident. “I just don’t know how it happened; how do you forget your baby?”

Holly told police that she forgot that the child was in the car as she headed into Target to shop with her 6-year-old daughter and her sister. Temperatures peaked at around 103 degrees Fahrenheit that day in Goodyear, which is about 20 miles due west of Phoenix. CBS News reports that the child may have been in the car for nearly an hour before help arrived, and Holly says in the body-cam video that she was in the store shopping for about 30 minutes.

The inside of a vehicle heats up very quickly, becomingly deadly hot rapidly. About 80% of the increase in temperature happens within the first 10 minutes. Even with the windows cracked, the temperature inside a car can reach 125 F in a matter of minutes, according to national nonprofit KidsAndCars.org.

“Let’s get her vitals,” an officer can be heard saying, before sending the infant to the local hospital. Later, Holly was placed under arrest.

"We're lucky, ya know, that this isn't something elsewhere ..." a police officer can be heard telling Holly before she interjected.

"No, I totally ... and I know you're doing your job. I'm not a neglectful mom," a panicked and sorrowful Holly can be heard pleading. "I'm not a bad mom."

The baby was sent to the hospital after the incident for examination, the police officer told Holly, as she begged him to let her go with her baby to the hospital.

Holly told the police that she, her sister and her 6-year-old went to the Starbucks to grab coffee. She also said that she was picking up chicken for her 6-year-old for lunch, and she was told by store clerks that the chicken would take 15 minutes. While they waited for the chicken to be prepared, the three shopped around the store while the baby was left in the car.

When she realized that she left her infant in the car, she soon after called 911 for help, NBC-affiliate KPNX reports.

After the police arrived, Holly was handcuffed and brought into the office for interrogation. The police were seen in the video treating the situation with great sensitivity. One officer can be heard saying that they "are trying to be as respectful as they possibly can."

Video obtained by ABC News also captured the interrogation, in which an officer asked Holly if this situation has ever occurred before.

"God, no! And I think that these people who do it, who you see on TV and think, 'Oh my God, how stupid are they to leave their kids in their car.' And then it happened.".

"I cannot give you an answer; I do not know," she said. "We walked in to get coffee and walked around. I do not know how we forgot her."

The child survived and was relatively unharmed, but the accident could have ended in tragedy.

"I'm glad I got arrested," she told the detective, ABC News reports. "This is a very eye-opening experience for me."

According to police, Holly was booked on June 16 and was charged with child abuse and endangerment. ABC News reports that Holly is pleading not guilty and is scheduled to appear in court again on Sept. 19.

This is not the first case of a child being left in a hot car this year, and many families were not as lucky as Holly. According to KidsAndCars.org, 35 children have died after being left in hot cars in 2019. Since 1990, there have been more than 900 fatalities from kids being left in hot cars nationwide.

"Even the best of parents or caregivers can unknowingly leave a sleeping baby in a car, and the end result can be injury or even death," KidsAndCars.org writes. On average, there are 38 deaths per year, or one every nine days.

In late July, a father of 1-year-old twins Juan Rodriguez made national headlines this year when the twins passed away after being left in a hot car. The criminal case against Rodriguez was put on hold on Aug. 2 and was postponed until Aug. 27.

Joey Jackson, Rodriguez’s lawyer, told reporters that Rodriguez and his family will work with legislators in the future to protect other families from facing the horrors that they have endured.

“We want to see a system that can detect the presence of a child in a vehicle,” Amber Rollins, director of KidsAndCars.org, told AccuWeather, regarding the technological advances for situations like these. “As standard equipment in all vehicles, not just a few models.”

Only two days after the incident on June 18, the Goodyear Police Department posted a message on Facebook.

"As the temperatures continue to rise in the Valley of the Sun, Goodyear Police remind the public that hot cars and kids don’t mix! This isn’t just an Arizona summer issue, it is an anytime, anywhere issue! Even on a mild 80-degree day, with windows cracked, temperatures inside a vehicle can become deadly in a matter of just 10 minutes," the police department wrote in the June post.

Small children are especially vulnerable to heatstroke in a short period of time, largely because they are unable to alert anyone for help. Additionally, a child’s body heats up quickly, turning deadly when it reaches 107 F. Pets are also particularly vulnerable to these situations, the Facebook post reads, noting that these heat-related injuries and deaths are "preventable."

According to the Goodyear Police, Arizona has a limited liability law protecting good Samaritans, who act if they see a child or pet in distress and alone inside a hot vehicle. The law allows for the removal of a child or pet in a locked vehicle under certain conditions, such as the person has a good faith belief that there is imminent danger to those inside.

This Goodyear Police Department highlight that this type of incident is "100% preventable" and can be avoided by following these simple steps:

• Look in the backseat before locking the vehicle and walking away.

• Place personal belongings, such as purses, cell phones and wallets, in the backseat while driving.

• Place the child’s stuffed animal or toy in the passenger seat next to the driver, as a reminder that the child is in the car.

"Goodyear Police want to get the message out… 'Look before you lock!,'" the police wrote in the post.

Child safety organizations, including KidsAndCars.org, are pushing for new technology to be added into cars to help prevent these deaths. Congress is currently debating the Hot Cars Act of 2019, which would mandate that new cars include a reminder system for drivers to check for passengers in the back.

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