Officials: Death of 4-year-old found in car is ‘suspicious’

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Officials say the Richland County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the suspicious death of a 4-year-old found in a car in northwest Columbia.

The State of Columbia reports (http://bit.ly/1Gulh6P) department spokesman Kevin Lawrence says deputies responding to a call Sunday evening found the child in a car at the Richland Parish Apartments.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts says the boy was Amir Sarcuar-Savar-Savour of Columbia. An autopsy conducted Monday shows he died from probable hyperthermia due being enclosed in a hot vehicle.

Police say the car, which belonged to a neighbor, had doors that could not be locked. Lawrence says investigators do not know how the child got into the car and are calling the death suspicious.