By Deborah Nnamdi
A Nigerian woman living in Texas, United States, Gbemisola Akayinode, is facing possible life imprisonment after being charged with the murder of her nine-year-old daughter, Oluwasikemi, who died from heat stroke after being left in a car for several hours.
According to a report by ABC News on Tuesday, the 36-year-old was arrested on Friday following the conclusion of an investigation by the Harris County Sheriff, Ed Gonzalez, which ruled the child’s death a homicide caused by excessive heat.
The tragic incident occurred on July 1, 2025, when Akayinode allegedly left her daughter inside a car for over eight hours while she went to work at a manufacturing plant in Galena Park, near Houston.
Court documents cited by ABC News showed that Akayinode arrived at work around 5:45 a.m., leaving her daughter in the car with food, a rechargeable fan, ice cubes, and water, and rolling down the back windows halfway. She reportedly did not check on the child until her shift ended at 1:53 p.m.
“When Gbemisola Akayinode reached the car, she said her daughter was unresponsive and blue, and she screamed for help,” the report quoted investigators as saying.
Further investigations revealed that Akayinode had previously taken her daughter to work several times, including the day before the incident. She reportedly told police she had no money for day care until her next paycheck, but investigators later discovered that her supervisor had been covering the child’s day care expenses.
Information from the website of U.S. criminal defence law firm Saputo Toufexis indicates that Akayinode could face between five and 99 years or life imprisonment under Texas Penal Code Section 19.02, which classifies murder as a first-degree felony.
Her next court appearance is scheduled for Monday.
According to data from KidsAndCars.org cited by ABC News, at least 30 children have died in hot cars across the United States so far in 2025, with about 1,160 similar deaths recorded since 1990.
