Nearly 2 years after daughter died in hot car, Gilbert mother turns tragedy into car safety advocacy

After heartbreaking tragedy, mother turns grief into car safety advocacy

Nearly two years ago, Angela Jones lost her daughter, three-year-old Charlotte, in a hot car incident. Now, she is advocating for new measures to prevent similar tragedies. FOX 10's Danielle Miller reports.

PHOENIX - After their daughter died in a hot car nearly two years ago, a Gilbert family turned their tragedy into a push to help others, and now, the Jones family is taking their message all the way to the nation's capitol, all in hopes of preventing future tragedies.

Mother recalls tragedy

"The panic in his voice, I knew right away something was wrong," said Angela Jones.

Angela knew something was wrong when she called her husband, Scott Jones, on her lunch break. It was September 3, 2019, and hours earlier, Scott had taken his other two girls to school. 3-year-old Charlotte, or Charly, as the family called her, stayed home from preschool that day. Angela says the family was out of their normal routine.

"Came back home with Charly in the back seat in her car seat. When he came home, he pulled on the driveway and came inside and started his workday, not realizing that Charly was in the back seat," said Angela.

Once the two realized what happened, they rushed Charly to the hospital. Sadly, Charly didn't make it.

"We had to be told that she didn’t make it, and we had to go say goodbye to her," said Angela. "It was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do, knowing that I was going to be leaving that hospital without my baby."

Mother turns tragedy into determination to prevent similar incidents

Its been nearly two years now without her spunky baby girl, and Angela is now turning her tears to triumph. She has met with members of Congress along with Kids and Car Safety to get Senate Bill 2016, also known as the Surface Transportation Investment Act, passed. The law would require vehicle manufacturers to install sequencing detection devices in vehicles. It is something Angela says will save lives.

"It will ping your phone and advise you to go check your vehicle," said Angela. "If you don’t go check and answer that, it will connect you to an emergency contact and it will honk the horn. It can do all kinds of things and eventually, it will contact emergency services."

Angela says the biggest mistake parents can make is thinking this can't happen to them. As far as the bill, it has been introduced to the Senate.