Mother charged with murder after toddler found dead in locked car at Gwinnett County hospital, police say

A mother has been charged with murder after her 1-year-old son was found dead inside a locked vehicle on Wednesday, police say.

Officials with the Lawrenceville Police Department tell CBS News Atlanta that officers were called to Northside Gwinnett Hospital around 3:50 p.m. after receiving a report of a child inside a vehicle.

The officers quickly found the vehicle in the hospital's employee parking lot and broke a window to get the child out and perform life-saving measures. The 1-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene. The temperature inside the car one hour after the child was removed and the window was broken was 117 degrees, Lawrenceville Police Captain Dena Pauly said during a press conference.

After running the vehicle's tag, officers identified the child's mother as 29-year-old Deja Coleman, an employee at the hospital, Pauly said.

During an interview, Coleman told investigators that she had taken her other two children to daycare but forgot to go back to the car and retrieve her son, officials said. Coleman had arrived at the parking lot at 6:55 a.m.

Coleman was taken to the Gwinnett County Detention Center. She has now been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children.