Authorities in Harris County, Texas, have arrested and charged a 36-year-old Nigerian woman, Gbemisola G. Akayinode, with felony murder following the death of her 9-year-old daughter, Oluwasikemi Akayinode, who succumbed to heatstroke after being left inside a parked car for several hours.
The Harris County Sheriff, Ed Gonzalez, confirmed the development in a post shared on X, on October 17, 2025, noting that the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences classified the child’s death as homicide caused by hyperthermia.
Gonzalez stated: “Arrest update: today, #HCSOTexas Homicide Detectives and our Violent Criminal Apprehension Team arrested Gbemisola G. Akayinode for the murder of her nine-year-old daughter, Oluwasikemi Akayinode. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences ruled the death a homicide, as a result of hyperthermia. Gbemisola (11-17-88) is being charged with felony murder and booked in the Harris County Jail.”
According to investigators, deputies were called to an industrial complex on Mayo Shell Road in Galena Park, near Houston, on July 1, 2025, after reports of an unresponsive child inside a vehicle.
The girl was taken to Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Court filings obtained by ABC News and Houston Chronicle indicate that Akayinode had arrived at work around 5:45 a.m., leaving her daughter in the back seat with food, water, a rechargeable fan, ice cubes, and melatonin tablets.
Temperatures that day soared to 99°F (37°C), and the child remained in the vehicle for over eight hours before being discovered around 1:53 p.m.
When Akayinode returned to the car, investigators said, she found her daughter unresponsive and immediately called for help.
The medical examiner’s report listed her body temperature at 108°F (42°C) at the time of death.
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Detectives also revealed that Akayinode had previously left her daughter in the vehicle on at least three separate occasions, according to witness accounts and prior statements gathered during the probe.
She is currently being held in the Harris County Jail on a $1 million bond as court proceedings continue.
Data from KidsAndCars.org, a nonprofit that tracks vehicular heatstroke deaths, shows that at least 27 children have died in similar circumstances in the United States in 2025 alone.
Experts continue to warn parents and caregivers that children’s bodies heat up up to five times faster than adults’, making even short periods in hot cars potentially deadly