Texas Mother Charged with Murder After 9-Year-Old Daughter Dies in Hot Car — Akelicious

Last updated: October 21, 2025 9:42 am

2 weeks ago

A 36-year-old mother, Gbemisola Akayinode, has been charged with murder following the death of her 9-year-old daughter, Oluwasikemi, who was left inside a parked car for more than eight hours on a scorching summer day in Texas.

According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the child’s death, which occurred on July 1 in Galena Park, near Houston, was ruled a homicide caused by hyperthermia (heat stroke).

Court records show that Akayinode arrived at her workplace a manufacturing plant around 5:45 a.m., leaving her daughter in the back seat with food, water, ice cubes, a rechargeable fan, and melatonin to help her sleep. She reportedly rolled the rear windows halfway down before heading into work.

Investigators said Akayinode did not check on her daughter until around 1:53 p.m., when she returned to the vehicle and found Oluwasikemi unresponsive and blue. She reportedly screamed for help, but efforts to revive the girl were unsuccessful.

The mother told detectives she often brought her daughter to work because she could not afford day care. However, investigators discovered that her foreman had been paying for her child care, contradicting her account.

Authorities waited for autopsy results before filing charges. Those results, released last week, confirmed the cause of death and led to Akayinode’s arrest. She is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

According to KidsAndCars.org, a U.S. nonprofit organization that tracks vehicular heat-related deaths, at least 30 children have died in hot cars so far this year, and more than 1,160 since 1990.

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