Father charged in death of 1-year-old left in hot vehicle in Baltimore

The father of a 1-year-old child who died in Baltimore after being left in a hot vehicle has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the child's death.

Yaakov Reichman turned himself into police on August 24 at police headquarters in Baltimore, said a statement from the Baltimore Police Department (BPD).

The 32-year-old Reichman was then transported to the department's central booking facility, where he was charged with involuntary manslaughter. 

The incident leading to the charge took place on July 16, 2026, when police responded to a report of an unconscious child who had been left unattended in a vehicle in the 6200 block of Greenspring Avenue.

After arriving, officers located 1-year-old David Reichman, who was unresponsive. Medics attempted life-saving measures on the child, but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The child's remains were transported to the Medical Examiner's office to determine the cause of death. Investigators determined the cause to be hyperthermia, after the child was left unattended in the family vehicle. The Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death was hypothermia due to environmental exposure, with the manner of death ruled accidental. 

Court documents outlining the charges stated that on the day of the incident, Reichman forgot to drop off his young son at daycare and instead drove to his synagogue and participated there in religious studies. 

The child spent about five hours in the vehicle before being discovered by the parents. During that time, the temperature rose from 88 to 97 degrees, the court documents showed. Investigators estimated that with the vehicle sitting in direct sunlight for that amount of time with all the windows closed, the temperature likely reached 150 degrees.