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Georgia twins dead after being left in a hot car

SAVANNAH, Ga (WSAV) – A father is facing involuntary manslaughter charges after the deaths of his twin daughters.

Local police say the girls were left in a hot car in Carrolton, Georgia for an unknown amount of time.

They have identified the victims as 15 month old’s Ariel and Alaynah North. Just a few months ago a great grandfather here in Savannah was arrested for leaving a toddler in a hot car.

News 3 spoke with metro police and groups who point out how easily these tragic situations could and should be prevented.

“It can honestly happen to anybody,” says Safe Kids Savannah coordinator Stephanie Gendron.

It happened Thursday night in one Atlanta suburb, a father leaving his twin girls in a car when temperatures reached the 90’s. They’re now dead and police have charged him with killing them.

“It’s a horrible situation it’s sad for the child, it’s sad for the family and the people who love that child, it’s horribly unfortunate.

Thompson like many parents sees it on the news. parents or grandparents forgetting children in cars. it’s something she finds hard to believe forgetting a child in a car but Gendron says it happens all too often.

“it’s hard to ever imagine ever leaving your child left in a car, but like i said the overwhelming majority of people do it on accident and so we really try to encourage people to be proactive,” says Gendron.

Metro police did provide WSAV-TV with their advice for parents to keep kids in check in the back seat.

  1. Before locking the doors on your vehicle, always check the back seat. Check your back seat to ensure that no one is left in the vehicle .
  2. Keep an important item in the back seat (cell phone, briefcase, computer, handbag etc.). That way, there is another reason you have to check your back seat when you exit the vehicle.
  3. If you see a child in a vehicle unattended, call 911 immediately. It only takes seconds for a vehicle’s temperature to elevate.
  4. Use drive-thru services when available if traveling with children. This limits having to exit the vehicle.
  5. Keep car keys away from children.

Back in the spring, viewers captured passerby’s trying to break into a car in Savannah to free a toddler. In those situation where you see a child locked in a hot car, Metro police and Safe Kids Savannah urge you call for help.

“If you do see a child left in the car, call 911 immediately, emergency personnel are trained in how to deal with this,” says Gendron.

Safe Kids Savannah does report more than half of hot car deaths result from accidental or negligence on behalf of the caretaker. In summer time heat, they say it can take a matter of minutes before temps in a car pass the hundreds and become deadly for children.

Carrolton police have told local media they do believe alcohol could have played a factor in the twins’ death.