The incident happened at the Pinnacle Kids Academy in the 400 block of Carson Hill Drive on Wednesday. Credit: Google Street Views

Editor’s note: This story was updated to remove the child’s name. Although other news outlets have reported the name, the Current decided the inclusion isn’t necessary or in the public interest.

A 5-year-old San Antonio boy died Wednesday after being left in a hot car for hours by his young mother, who believed she’d dropped him off at daycare, according to multiple media reports.

Police said the 22-year-old mother drove to the Pinnacle Kids Academy in the 400 block of Carson Hill Drive Wednesday morning to drop her child before heading to work, KSAT reports. However, the boy never appeared at the academy, and the mother apparently didn’t notice he hadn’t exited the vehicle, authorities told the TV station.

“She works right next door, she does that routine on a daily basis,” San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus told the Express-News. “She thought that she had dropped the child off.”

After work, the mother, whom police haven’t publicly identified, returned to the daycare center. However, staff informed her that her son had never arrived, KSAT reports.

They boy was was then discovered dead in the back seat of the vehicle, according to the Express-News. McManus told the daily that the boy had been in the car from early in the morning until 5 p.m.

Highs reached more than 90 degrees in San Antonio Wednesday, meaning temperatures inside the vehicle likely reached 130 degrees within an hour, according to heatstroke.org, a San Jose State University site focused on heat stroke deaths of children left in vehicles.

Police are investigating whether the death was an accident or intentional, according to media reports.

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This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 9, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...