James Fidele faces charges of leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle causing great bodily harm

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – A Port St. Lucie man was arrested after police said his 2-year-old son died after being left inside of a vehicle for several hours, according to Treasure Coast News.

The report shows Port St. Lucie police responded to a call about the child being left in the vehicle on Monday afternoon.

Police told Treasure Coast News the child was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The father, identified as 37-year-old James Fidele, told police that he and his girlfriend only had one vehicle, and he has been taking five children to school, according to the report.

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Police said he was supposed to drop the 2-year-old off, but went home instead, the report shows.

Fidele got home from dropping the children off at 8:10 a.m. and he removed the child from the vehicle at 1:18 p.m., according to police. Treasure Coast News reported Fidele called 911 minutes after “discovering he forgot to take his child out of the vehicle when he arrived home earlier this morning,” police said.

He faces a felony charge for leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle causing great bodily harm.

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About the Author:

Jacob joined ClickOrlando.com in 2022. He spent 19 years at the Orlando Sentinel, mostly as a photojournalist and video journalist, before joining Spectrum News 13 as a web editor and digital journalist in 2021.