Fayetteville firefighter charged after son left alone in hot car 'for hours'

Fayetteville Police Sgt. Jeremy Glass said that the child was accidentally left in a van for several hours.

Wayne Nesbitt, 36, was being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center under a $100,000 unsecured bond. He's currently employed with Fayetteville as a firefighter, city officials said.

"They returned home from church, and after ... the child was just never taken out of the car," Glass said.

According to the Fayetteville Police Department, officers responded to Nesbitt's Fayetteville home on Sept. 5, where they found the toddler unresponsive inside a car.

Despite emergency measures, the child was pronounced dead. The child died of heat-related injuries, according to a medical examiner.

Glass said there was a misunderstanding about who took the child out of the car.

"Ultimately, the father's responsible for the safety of that child and he was charged appropriately," he said.

WRAL's weather department says that the highest temperature in Fayetteville was 89 degrees that day. When outside temperatures are in the 90s, cars can heat up quickly. If a child is left in a car for an hour, inside temperatures can reach more than 130 degrees.

"The parent placed the child in a situation where they were deemed neglected," Glass said.