BOONEVILLE -- The Arkansas State Police are investigating the death of a 3-year-old girl and injury to her 15-month-old sister.
"Both are the apparent victims of heat while they were inside a car parked outside their mother's home in Booneville [on Monday]," according to a news release from the State Police.
Kaylee Petchenik, 21, of Boonville, called police at about 2 p.m. Monday saying she awoke from a nap to find her children were missing.
A police officer who responded to the call found the two children, both unconscious, lying on the back floorboard of the car, according to State Police.
Laykn Petchenik was later pronounced dead at a Booneville hospital. Her body was taken to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for autopsy.
Olivia Petchenik was in stable, but critical condition Tuesday at a Little Rock hospital, according to State Police.
Special agents of the State Police Criminal Investigation Division are leading the investigation and will submit a case file to the Logan County prosecutor, according to the release.
Robert Darby, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa, Okla., said it was 95 degrees in the Booneville area at 2 p.m. Monday. He said the heat index was 101 degrees. Darby described Monday as a "full-sun day" with little cloud cover.