Detectives are reviewing witness accounts after the child was found unresponsive Tuesday.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Los Angeles police opened a child abuse investigation after a 4-year-old child was found dead Tuesday inside a vehicle on a residential street in Valley Village.
The child was discovered after a medical emergency call brought officers and firefighters to the 12700 block of McCormick Street shortly before 3:45 p.m. The child was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities had not released the child’s identity or the cause of death.
LAPD Capt. Warner Castillo said the department’s Abused Child Section was investigating the case as a possible homicide. “An unresponsive child in a vehicle was discovered,” Castillo told reporters. Police said no arrests had been announced while detectives continued to interview people who may know what happened before the emergency call.
The scene drew police, firefighters and religious first responders to the neighborhood near Bluebell Avenue, Magnolia Boulevard and McCormick Street. Video from the area showed crime-scene tape and a white tent near the vehicle. Officials had not confirmed how long the child was inside the car or who last had custody of the child.
Some neighbors told reporters the case may have involved a morning carpool, but police had not verified that detail. Attorney Lou Shapiro said the man connected to the vehicle was not the child’s father and said the family was devastated. “No one should ever go through something like this,” Shapiro said.
The investigation unfolded during a warm day in the San Fernando Valley, where temperatures reached the upper 80s. Police had not said whether heat was the cause of death. Detectives were expected to rely on witness interviews, emergency call records, vehicle evidence and medical findings to determine what occurred.
Officials had not said whether charges would be filed. The next step is expected to come from police investigators or the medical examiner once the child is identified and the cause and manner of death are determined.
Author note: Last updated May 20, 2026.