EAST HANOVER, N.J. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A New Jersey mother was charged two weeks after her baby daughter died while left alone in a car for hours during a heat wave, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday.
Livia Patelli, 33, is charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child after the July 17 death of her 6-month-old infant.
Officers with the East Hanover Police Department responded to a parking lot near South Ridgedale Avenue on Route 10 when a 911 call reported the incident. It was not immediately clear where Patelli was at the time.
Paramedics responded and attempted to render aid to the child, but she could not be saved. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital, prosecutors said.
An investigation into the death, led by police and the prosecutor’s office, found that the child was left unattended in the car for about four and a half hours.
Patelli, of Roseland, was detained at the Morris County Correctional Facility, but was released after her first appearance hearing on Thursday, prosecutors said.
The investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office at 973-285-6200 or the East Hanover Police Department at 973-887-0432.