Texas cops probe if baby’s death in hot car was intentional

A 3-month-old boy was found dead Tuesday after his mom left him in her car outside a Texas mental health clinic in triple-digit heat — with police investigating the grim possibility it may have been intentional.

The baby was left in the car outside the Harris Center for Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Houston while his mom took another child, aged 4, in for an appointment around noon, police said.

The mom — who has not been identified — found the tot unresponsive when she went back to the car around 3:25 p.m., suggesting the baby boy was there at least three hours as temps hit 100 degrees.

She removed him from the vehicle and carried him inside the outpatient facility, where nurses performed CPR before fire crews arrived. The 3-month-old boy was then pronounced dead at an area hospital.

The death is being investigated by homicide detectives, Houston Police Assistant Chief Yasar Bashir told a press conference Tuesday.

“That’s something we’re going to find out, whether the child was left intentionally or not,” Bashir said, while stating the mom was being “very cooperative.”

“That is something we’re going to have to look into.”

The Harris County Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy on the infant and determine the cause and manner of death.

Bashir described the hot-car death as “avoidable,” saying it “should never happen.”

“Houston gets very hot, and under no circumstances you should leave a child in a car, not even for a moment,” Bashir said.

It’s unclear whether the baby’s mother would face charges in his death. That baby’s dad — who was not there at the time — has also been “working with detectives,” Bashir said.

Police are now working on a timeline of the incident and looking to find out whether the car was left running while the baby was alone inside, and whether the windows were down. The windows appeared to be closed in photos from the scene.

“We are still in the early stages of our investigation,” Bashir told reporters. “When a child passes away, you want to slow down the investigation and make sure you don’t miss anything.”