Infant Dies Inside Car In Walnut Parking Lot

WALNUT, CA — An 18-month-old Chino Hills boy died after being left inside a sport-utility vehicle in Walnut, Sheriff's homicide detectives say. The boy was pronounced dead at an area hospital, and an investigation is underway.

On Wednesday evening, deputies were called to a dental office at a Walnut strip mall in the 20700 block of Amar Road, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

"(Deputies) saw the father of a one-and-a-half-year-old child conducting CPR on his child inside the business," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lt. Brandon Dean told NBC4. "Deputies assisted the father by continuing with their life-saving efforts until (Los Angeles) County fire paramedics arrived on the scene, at which time they took over life-saving efforts."

Kai Kayden Chen died at a hospital, and an autopsy was pending, according to the coroner's office.

The father may be the owner of the business, identified as Skyline Dental, NBC4 said.

A witness told KCAL9 the child had been in the vehicle for seven hours, and authorities questioned the boy's mother.

"I saw the mother in the back seat of the sheriff's car, and... there's just no words to describe how she looked," Melody Chin said. "She looked just broken and tormented for what happened. The loss of your child, how can you describe that?"

Deputies also questioned the boy's father. No arrests were reported.

This is a developing report. Patch will update with the latest information as it is received.