After his grandmother forgot about him in the back seat, a Georgia boy died in a hot car at a Wendy’s drive-thru.
According to the Muscogee County Coroner’s Office, Kendrick Engram Jr, three, was discovered by his uncle at the fast-food restaurant on Wynnton Road in Columbus on Sunday after being left inside the car for about 2 hours and 45 minutes.
He died of asphyxiation after being left in the hot car; the day’s high temperature was 96 degrees Fahrenheit, and the low was 90 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service’s three-day forecast.
According to Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan, Kendrick spent the majority of Sunday with family members, including his three sisters and grandmother. They went back home around 5:30 p.m.
‘Everyone went in the house except the little boy,’ Bryan said. ‘The grandmother went into the bedroom, the other children went into the kitchen area to eat. Then the children were in and out, playing … just like kids do.’
It wasn’t until around 8:15 p.m. that the grandmother noticed Kendrick was missing and ‘called out to the children and asked about a head count, and nobody knew where Kendrick was.’
Kendrick was discovered around 8:30 p.m. after his mother contacted his uncle, who was driving the vehicle the boy had been riding in earlier that day.
According to Bryan, the grandmother called him while he was at Wendy’s to see if Kendrick was with him.
The boy’s uncle initially denied his presence, but he was soon discovered in the third-row seat of a Nissan SUV.
Around 9 p.m. that night, the toddler was pronounced dead.
‘Just be aware. Just be aware. If you’re an adult, be responsible,’ Bryan said. ‘The children are innocent. They can’t help themselves and when you have a child that puts the responsibility on you.’
As of Tuesday, it was unclear whether the family would face charges in connection with the three-year-death. old’s On Tuesday, a Go Fund Me page was set up in the boy’s honor, with a $10,000 goal to cover his funeral expenses. So far, only $50 in donations have been made.
Kendrick was described as ‘energetic, loving, and full of life!’ in the fundraiser. He is survived by his mother, Yolanda Thomas, and father, Kendrick Engram, as well as six siblings.
The Columbus Police Department in Georgia has been contacted for comment by DailyMail.com.
Heather, her mother, said her heart is “broken” after her 40-year-old daughter died of bowel cancer.
According to Safe Kids, Heather James, also known as Kendrick, is the seventh child in the United States to die after being left in a hot car this year, and the second in Georgia. Over the past two years, more than 100 children have died after being left unattended in a hot car.
Trace Means, five, died last week in Houston, Texas, after his mother Amanda Means, 36, abandoned him in the back of a Porsche SUV for two to three hours.
Detectives believe she simply forgot Trace was still strapped into his car seat as she entered their $1.4 million Houston home to throw his eight-year-old sister a birthday party.
By the time Amanda realized her error, the bubbly, blonde-haired youngster had died of suspected heat stroke, as seen in the first of a series of heartbreaking family photos.
Although the mother has not been charged, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating.
Trace’s parents are divorcing, and he spent Father’s Day with his father before being dropped home several hours before Monday’s tragedy, according to DailyMail.com.