A babysitter was arrested and charged with manslaughter Wednesday, accused of leaving a baby in a hot car for hours earlier that day, causing the child’s death.

Rhonda Jewell, 46, picked up the 10-month-old baby girl from a residence in Macclenny, Florida, at around 8 a.m. Wednesday before driving to another residence in the town where she was due to babysit three other children.

Ms. Jewell is accused of forgetting the baby in the backseat amid the summer swelter. The heat value index, which combines ambient air temperature with humidity to measure how hot it feels to a person outside, was 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the Jacksonville area that includes Macclenny.

Ms. Jewell said she didn’t realize the baby was left in the car until the child’s mother arrived at 1 p.m. to pick her up, according to the Baker County Sheriff’s Office.

The baby girl was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead, and Ms. Jewell was subsequently arrested. After a court hearing Thursday, Ms. Jewell was ordered to surrender her passport and was released on $25,000 bond with GPS monitoring.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.