An Alabama mother forgot her daughter in a scorching Lexus SUV. The 11-month-old died as the vehicle overheated in the summer sun.
"I wish I was in that car seat, not her," Katie Luong, 31, cried. "If I had to die for her to live, I would have done that."
Luong told The Birmingham News that she blames herself for little Ella's death outside the family's Genesis Nail Spa in downtown Homewood, Ala.
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The mother found her only child, whose full name is Gabriella Gi-Ny Luong, about 1:20 p.m. Wednesday strapped into her car seat after leaving her there about 10 a.m. It was about 90 degrees outside and 127 degrees inside the car, police said.
A man who works nearby, Chris Conn, and paramedics attempted to revive the child.
"I noticed my neighbors were in hysterics," Conn told local station WBRC. "Ran next door, found their daughter lying on the floor unresponsive. When I asked them what had happened, they said their daughter had been left in the car since 10 a.m."
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They rushed Ella to a children's hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Earlier Wednesday, Luong was supposed to drop off Ella at a babysitter's house on her way to work. But she forgot to during the 10-mile drive.
She says she was stressed out and her mind was filled with worries over an employee's recent suicide and a close family friend's failing health. She was also in the midst of planning a first birthday party for Ella.
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"She was on the phone the whole time, and she said that cost her her baby's life,'' her friend Diana Huynh said. "She blames herself."
The Rev. Allan Murphy, the senior pastor at Luong's church, North Shelby Baptist, also said that the young mother is inconsolable over the death.
"When you hear just a few details, you can judge quickly, but it's different when you know someone's heart and hear their hurt,'' Murphy told The Birmingham News. "It was a tragic thing that happened. A human tragedy."
Luong will bury Ella on Sunday — the day she was supposed to throw the girl's first birthday party.
mwalsh@nydailynews.com
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