SC mother charged in 1-year-old's hot car death

SUMTER, S.C. — A South Carolina woman has been charged after authorities ruled her 1-year-old son died from being left in a hot car.

The State reports 24-year-old Latisha Nicole Rembert was charged with homicide by child abuse/neglect following the preliminary finding released Thursday by the Sumter County Coroner.

Police were called to a Sumter apartment complex Wednesday afternoon and tried to revive Mekhi Rembert, who was taken to Palmetto Health Tuomey Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Coroner Robert Baker said the official cause of death was hyperthermia, but a final determination will be made when the toxicology test results come back from the State Law Enforcement Division. Baker said he couldn't determine how long the child had been left in the car.

Temperatures reached 91 degrees in Sumter on Wednesday.

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Associated Press