Djuna Bostick, North Carolina foster mom charged in hot car death of 7 year old girl in her care. Child left unattended in minivan amid 90 Fahrenheit degree weather.
A foster mother is accused of causing the hot car death of a 7-month-old girl in her care after leaving the infant unattended in a minivan, amid 90 degree temperatures, North Carolina authorities said.
Djuna Tillman Bostick, 59, upon her arrest earlier this week was charged with involuntary manslaughter and negligent child abuse by a willful act or omission causing serious bodily injury, according to a Facebook release from the Hamlet Police Department.
Notice of the tragedy came after officers responded to a medical emergency at a home in Hamlet, Monday, shortly after 6 p.m. June 9 where they found a 7-month-old unresponsive.
Investigators learned that Bostick, the girl’s foster mother, had left the baby in a minivan ‘for an unknown period of time’ as temperatures that day reached 90 degrees, according to an arrest warrant filed in Richmond County.
The girl was pronounced dead at a hospital from excessive heat, police said.
‘She loved this baby,’ Lashon McDonald, who knows Bostick, told WSOC. ‘I just don’t her see as being one of those who just left her and not realized she was there. It’s just hard to believe.’
Police were now investigating the circumstances leading up to the child being left in the minivan. The length of time the 7 month old was left unattended had yet to be disclosed.
Bostick was being held at the Richmond County Jail prior to making $500,000 bond, and being released on June 10.
Bostick was appointed an attorney during a June 10 court appearance, and is due back in Richmond County court on June 23.
Hamlet is about an 80-mile drive southeast from Charlotte.
Hot crime deaths in America
More than 1,000 children have died in hot cars since 1998, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. ‘
About 40 children a year die from heatstroke, either because they were left or became trapped in a car,’ officials said. ‘That’s about one child every 10 days killed in a hot car.’
‘Leaving a window open is not enough — temperatures inside the car can rise almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit within the first 10 minutes, even with a window cracked open,’ the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
According to advocacy group Kids and Car Safety, there were 29 deaths in 2023, 41 in 2024, and six so far in 2025. Most of these deaths are unintentional and don’t involve abuse, neglect or substance use, experts say.
Janette Fennell, founder and president of Kids and Car Safety, said carmakers should install occupant detection technology in all vehicles.
‘As we continue our advocacy, children are still dying — week after week. It’s beyond heartbreaking,’ she said in a statement to ABC News. ‘Automakers don’t need to wait for a final regulation. They have the power — and the responsibility — to add this life-saving technology to their vehicles today.’
