Overview
- Police responded after a hospital employee spotted the 1‑year‑old slumped in a car seat and officers forced entry to remove the child who was pronounced dead at the scene.
- Investigators identified the vehicle as belonging to 29‑year‑old Deja Coleman and arrested her on July 30 on charges of second‑degree murder and second‑degree felony cruelty to children.
- Surveillance footage and timestamped arrivals show Coleman drove to work at Northside Gwinnett Hospital around 6:50–6:55 a.m. and the child was discovered about nine hours later, which prosecutors cited in filing charges.
- Law enforcement recorded the vehicle's interior temperature at 117°F about an hour after the child was removed, and officials say the medical examiner, the Gwinnett DA and DFACS have been notified and responded.
- Coleman’s two other children are reportedly in their father's care and the vehicle has been impounded; the official cause of death has not been released and bond status remains unclear, which are the next items to watch in the case.