HAMLET — A 7-month-old foster child has died after being left in a hot vehicle in Hamlet, leading to criminal charges against the caregiver.
On Tuesday, around 6:04 p.m., officers with the Hamlet Police Department responded to a home on Charlotte Street following a report of a medical emergency.
According to an arrest warrant, Djuna Tillman Bostick, 59, of Hamlet, left the infant in her 2017 Toyota Sienna van for an “unknown period time” as outside temperatures reached approximately 90 degrees.
When officers arrived, they found the child unresponsive and immediately began life-saving efforts. EMS personnel later transported the infant to the hospital, where the child was pronounced dead from heat-related causes.
Bostick has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse, willful act or omission causing serious bodily injury. She was taken to the Richmond County Jail and is being held under a $500,000 bond.