North Carolina Mother Accused of Involuntary Manslaughter After Daughter, 8, Dies in Hot Car While She Was at Work

Law enforcement officials in North Carolina say they have arrested a woman on the same day her 8-year-old daughter reportedly died in her car.

According to court records obtained by WSOC-TV, Ashlee Stallings’ daughter was pronounced dead after she was found unresponsive in a vehicle parked at a NAPA Auto Parts in Charlotte.

Authorities said Stallings left her daughter in a car “with outside temperatures reaching 94 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Stallings reportedly told police she left her child in the car while she was at work, but she left the air conditioning running and was communicating with the child.

She said she believed the child may have turned off the air conditioning because she was too cold. Court documents state Stallings returned to the car after not hearing from the child for an hour and a half, broke the back window and found her daughter unresponsive.

Stallings then drove towards the hospital, but she pulled over in NAPA Auto Parts and called for help. First responders arrived and found the girl in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest, officials said.

The girl suffered a brain injury as a result of hyperthermia and later died at the hospital, according to authorities.

Stallings was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, and child abuse causing serious injury, officials said.

Never miss a story — sign up for the Front Page Detectives newsletter. Be on the scene the moment news breaks.

She was booked into the Mecklenburg County Detention Center and was being held on a $250,000 bond.

Stallings’ daughter is the fifth child that has died in a hot car this year, according to No Heat Stroke. In 2023, there were 29 children who died of vehicular heat strokes.