On July 17, 2015 at approximately 6:50 P.M., the Child Abuse Unit received a call from an off-duty officer, working at Medical City Hospital located at 7777 Forest Lane, Dallas, Texas 75230, regarding the deceased victim, B/F/2. The victim was identified as Sekinat Nariyah Raufu.

Detectives from the Child Abuse Unit responded to the location and interviewed the victim’s parents.  Both parties stated that they had returned home from spending the day at Fair Park with their children, exited the car and went inside their home located at 11900 Garden Terrace Drive, where they then laid down and took a nap.  When they awoke, the victim’s father went outside to work on his vehicle, when he observed the victim sitting in the back seat of the vehicle strapped in her child safety seat.  He  immediately removed the child from the vehicle and took her inside where he called 9-1-1 as the mother performed CPR for approximately 30 minutes on the victim.  The mother then drove the victim to Children’s Medical City where she was pronounced deceased at 7:19 P.M. The victim’s parents stated that they believed all children had exited the vehicle when they returned home.  Child Protective Services was then notified.

During the course of the investigation, additional information was developed regarding the circumstances of the child’s death, the actions of both parents, and other child witnesses.

On July 27, 2015, officers of the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force executed an arrest warrant as follows: Hamuda Raufu, B/M/40, Warrant # F1576031, for Abandoning a Child/Imminent Danger F/2, with a bond currently set at $5,000. The arrested person is the victim’s father.

This offense is documented on case number 164160-2015. Please see the arrest affidavit below for more information.