NJ dad turns himself into cops after baby dies in parked minivan

🚨 First responders tried reviving the infant

🚨 The child's father turned himself into police

🚨 Additional charges could be coming

LAKEWOOD — The father of an infant who died after being left in a parked minivan on Tuesday turned himself into authorities.

Police found a 4-month-old boy "in distress" around 1:45 p.m. on 5th Street. He was taken to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood where he was pronounced dead.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said only that the baby "was left alone in his vehicle for an extended period of time."

Moshe Ehrlich, 35, turned himself into Lakewood police on Thursday. He was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and is being held at the Ocean County Jail. Billhimer said additional charges could be coming.

ALSO READ: NJ girl, 8, with pencil fights off kidnapper near school

Mild day but still warm inside car

The prosecutor did not disclose a cause of death.

On a late winter day, it doesn't take long for temperatures to quickly rise inside a parked vehicle in direct sunlight, according to New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow.

"The temperature inside a vehicle can rise significantly even with cooler temperatures outside with the majority of the temperature rise occurring within the first 15 to 30 minutes," Zarrow said.

Zarrow said a weather station in nearby Howell reported 54 degrees at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, with a light breeze. The high temperature there later in the afternoon was 63.

Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom