Police: 8-month-old boy found dead was left in SUV for hours

MACEDONIA, Ohio (AP) — An 8-month-old baby boy was found dead in the parking lot of a northeast Ohio Wal-Mart after being left in a vehicle for hours, authorities said Thursday.

Investigators say a man taking the boy and three other children to day care around 8 a.m. Wednesday apparently forgot the baby in the third row of seats in a sport utility vehicle, and the child's grandmother didn't realize he was still there when she drove the SUV to work at the Macedonia Wal-Mart around 11 a.m.

She found the unresponsive boy hours later, and police were called around 5:30 p.m., according to a statement from the Summit County medical examiner. That office identified the boy as Jayce Markell Benjamin from Garfield Heights.

Police don't believe he was harmed intentionally. An autopsy was scheduled Thursday.

Macedonia police Lt. Vince Yakopovich said the baby's caretakers realized he was still in the SUV when the day care took the other children home and he wasn't with them.

"It's a very difficult thing. ... We're all shocked, it's a tragedy," Yakopovich said, according to the Northeast Ohio Media Group.

Initial information from police didn't specify whether the infant is related to the man who took the children to day care.

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This story has been corrected to show the proper style on Wal-Mart, not Walmart.