No charges have been filed in the death of an infant boy left inside a hot car in the parking lot of a Volusia County middle school.
The six-month-old was left in an SUV by a teacher at Deltona Middle School Friday morning. He was left in the vehicle for nine hours.
A Deltona man who found himself in a similar situation created an app to prevent such incidents from happening again.
Moses Jovel’s app for smart phones is designed to remind parents they have a child in the backseat.
Jovel, a father of four, said he created the Child Safe app after an incident that occurred with his wife while returning home from church.
"She thought that I had the baby and I thought that she had the baby,” Jovel said. “And after 10 minutes we realized that the baby was not with us. And I came out running and he was already sweating."
Jovel says the Child Safe app links to a monitor, which plugs into the cigarette lighter socket.
After about 30 seconds of exiting the car, the app asks if the child is safe, then a second alert is sent a minute after that.
The creator of this app says it’s not just for parents with a very busy schedule. It’s also for grandparents who may have a hard time remembering what it’s like to have a child in the backseat.
"So if I drop off my child to their grandparents, I tell them Mom, download this app just to remind you that you have Isaac with you," says the creator's wife, Sendy Jovel.
The Jovels do not believe the baby's caretaker should be charged because they know what it’s like to accidentally leave a child behind in a sweltering car.
However, they do say accidents like these can be avoided if parents use their apps, or others, instead of living in denial.
"Because people think this is not going to happen to me. Unfortunately that is the worst thing that a parent can think," said Jovel.