Los Angeles police are investigating the death as a possible homicide.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A 4-year-old child was found dead inside a vehicle Tuesday afternoon in Valley Village after police and firefighters responded to a medical emergency call in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood.
Los Angeles police said the case is being handled by the department’s abused child unit. No one had been reported in custody as of the latest public updates. Officials had not released the child’s name, and reports differed on whether the child was a boy or girl.
Emergency crews were called around 3:40 p.m. to the area of McCormick Street near Bluebell Avenue and Magnolia Boulevard. Officers found the child unresponsive inside a vehicle. Los Angeles Fire Department personnel pronounced the child dead at the scene. LAPD Capt. Warner Castillo said investigators were treating the case as a possible homicide while they worked to build a timeline.
Investigators had not said how long the child was inside the vehicle. Neighbors told local reporters the vehicle may have been part of a morning carpool, but police had not confirmed that account. Crime-scene tape blocked part of the street, and a white tent covered part of a vehicle as investigators worked in the residential area.
Attorney Lou Shapiro, who said he represents a family involved in the case, told reporters the man connected to the vehicle was not the child’s father. Shapiro said the man’s wife was distraught. “There’s no words,” he said. Police continued interviewing witnesses Tuesday night and Wednesday.
The death shook a close-knit Valley Village neighborhood with many families and religious institutions nearby. Temperatures in the San Fernando Valley reached the upper 80s Tuesday, but officials had not released a cause of death. The Los Angeles County medical examiner was expected to make that determination after further review.
Police said the investigation remained active, with detectives focused on the child’s movements before the 3:40 p.m. emergency call and the circumstances that left the child inside the vehicle. Officials had not announced charges or a scheduled briefing.
Author note: Last updated May 20, 2026.