Casa Grande child left in car, in critical condition

A 2 1/2-year-old girl is in critical condition after she was left in a hot car for more than two hours Sunday at a Casa Grande residence, police said.

Casa Grande police were called around 3 p.m. by the girl's parents after they discovered their daughter was still in the car long after they had returned home from church, according to law enforcement.

The family of nine took separate cars on the drive home, the father with three children and the mother with four, including the 2 1/2-year-old girl, police said. After parking in the driveway, the mother told one of her children to unbuckle the girl while she went inside to use the bathroom, according to Casa Grande police.

The child unbuckled the girl but did not remove her from the car while the rest of the family went inside, police said.

She was found two-and-a-half hours later, breathing but unresponsive, according to law enforcement. Her parents tried to lower the girl's body temperature with cool water as they called emergency crews, police said.

Casa Grande firefighters treated the girl on the scene and transported her to a local hospital, where she was stabilized, law enforcement said. At about 5 p.m. she was flown to Phoenix Children's Hospital where she remains in critical condition, police said.

Law enforcement said the family has been "cooperative" with investigators.The Pinal County Attorney's Office is reviewing if the parents should be charged with child abuse, police said.