Virginia father, 37, who shot himself dead outside family home after he accidentally left his 18-month-old son to die in a hot car when he went to work
- Aaron Beck, 37, died by suicide after his 18-month-old son, Anderson Beck, died in an overheated car in Virginia on June 28
- In an obituary, it says that Aaron ‘sacrificed his life to his son in an act of profound devotion’
- Police speculate Aaron had gone to work for three hours and forgot to drop his son off at daycare
- Anderson was found by cops inside the family’s home while Aaron was found dead a short time later in the woods out back
- The child is the seventh child to die in an overheated car in the US this year
The Virginia father who killed himself after he found his toddler son dead in the backseat of his car when he mistakenly went to work and forgot about him ‘sacrificed his life to his son in an act of devotion’, according to an obituary.
Aaron Beck, 37, killed himself in the woods behind his home in Midlothian on June 28, after finding his son lifeless in the car.
The child’s family alerted police that the boy had not shown up to daycare. And officers then went to the home after the family told cops that Aaron had made suicidal statements.
‘Upon their arrival, they located the people in the driveway with an open door with an empty child seat in the vehicle. As they made entry into the residence, they found a deceased 18-month-old,’ Chesterfield Police Lt. Col. Christopher Hensley said on June 28.
The father was found shortly after, where the family said he would be. Officers speculated that Aaron went to work in the morning for three hours and forgot to drop his son off at daycare during an ongoing heatwave. Temperatures in the area reached a high of 80F on the day they died.
A coroner confirmed to DailyMail.com that Aaron died of suicide. The child’s cause of death is yet to be determined.
Anderson’s and Aaron’s lives were interwoven in life and death,’ a Legacy.com obituary reads. ‘[Aaron] sacrificed his life to his son in an act of profound devotion and love.’
The toddler is remembered as being the ‘brightest light that brought his family together’.
‘He was a beautiful, outgoing and intelligent little boy that lived in a family that was full of love and promise,’ the tribute reads.
The body of the 18-month-old was found inside the family’s Virginia home by officers before discovering Aaron in the forest behind the home
In the obituary, Aaron is remembered as a man whose ‘career was important to him’ but ‘not the focus of his life.’ His ‘biggest dream’ is attributed to ‘becoming a father and building a family.’
‘His most devoted focus was his son, Anderson, to whom he gave enormous and endless love. He was generous, kind, caring and soft with his son. The selflessness of his love was a testament to the possibilities of fatherhood, to the possibilities of the heart,’ the tribute reads.
A GoFundMe has been organized by the family of the duo, Aaron’s step sister, Lauren Riegel, shared on Facebook.
‘Aaron was an amazing father and husband to his wonderful wife, Laura,’ she wrote.
‘She is completely shattered and has a long tough road ahead of her.’
Seven hot car deaths so far in 2022
Seven children, including the 18-month-old, have died in the United States after being left in a hot car, according to No Heat Stroke, this year.
He’s also the second to die this week: Kendrick Engram Jr, three, died on Sunday after his grandmother forgot about him in the back seat of a car after running errands in Georgia.
Engram was discovered by his uncle after he took the car to a fast-food joint. The boy was in the third-row sear of a Nissan SUV.
He died of asphyxiation after temperatures reached a high of 96F and a low of 90F on, the National Weather Service reported in it’s forecast.
Last week, Trace Means, five, died in a car after being left in 100F heat in Houston, Texas for two to three hours on June 20.
Investigators believe his mom, Amanda Means, forgot to unbuckle him after running inside their $1.4 million home to throw a birthday party for his eight-year-old sister.
Amanda has not been charged with her son’s death, but the investigation is still ongoing.
Heatstroke deaths for 2022 started on May 3 with the death of an 8-month-old girl in Snellville, Georgia.
Nova Grace Whatley-Trejo was left inside her fathers car when temperatures hit 86 degree weather in Snellville.
Davied Whatley, 20, left his daughter in a parked car outside city hall as he went to go retrieve a gun.
Whatley was arrested after a background check flagged a probation violation. While under police custody, Whatley failed to mention his daughter was in the car.
He was charged the next day with second-degree murder of his daughter.
FULL STORY: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10980799/PICTURED-Virginia-dad-killed-child-died-hot-car.html
PREVENTION INFORMATION: https://www.childrens.com/health-wellness/5-tips-for-preventing-hot-car-deaths
