Three-year-old boy dies with head stuck in car window

A 3-year-old Nye County boy was killed Friday when he was left alone in a car and his head became stuck in a window.

The death occurred in the small farming community of Amargosa Valley, on the California border about 95 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

According to the Nye County Sheriff's Office, the boy's mother, identified as Luz Maria Gonzales, 43, stopped at a church in Amargosa Valley and left the boy asleep in the car while she went inside.

Witnesses told authorities that Gonzales was inside for no more than five minutes, but while she was gone, the boy climbed out of his car seat and tried to crawl out a window that had been partially lowered by his mother. The child's head became lodged between the door frame and the window, resulting in a brief struggle and the child's death.

Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo said an investigation by his department will be submitted to the district attorney's office for review. He said detectives found no pattern of neglect and no history of the child being left unattended.