PHOENIX — The death of a 5-year-old boy who was found unresponsive inside his family’s vehicle in Peoria was being investigated as heat-related, police said.
The boy’s parents, Mihail Sabo and Anca Sabo, were interviewed by police and later arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide and child abuse, according to Officer William Kennedy, spokesperson for the Peoria Police Department.
The parents made their first appearance in front of a judge on Sept. 15, where prosecuting lawyers established the parents' alleged child negligence and defense lawyers attempted to show the family's responsible nature.
Kennedy said they would not publicly identify the child, but a GoFundMe organized to support the family identified the boy as Theo Sabo.
Here's everything we know.
Theo Sabo, 5, is pictured in an undated photo. He died Sept. 13 after he was found unresponsive inside his family’s vehicle in Peoria.
Fundraiser generates close to $300,000
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More than 770 donations had poured into a fundraiser that had a goal of $300,000, as of 6 p.m. Sept. 15.
“Theo was deeply loved, and his precious life will never be forgotten,” the fundraiser, organized by Dayana Moca, said.
The money was intended to cover funeral and memorial expenses, meals, time away from work and other immediate needs as the family grieved.
The fundraiser described the Sabo family as deeply loved members of its community who had spent years serving and supporting others.
Parents make first court appearance
Mihail and Anca Sabo, Theo’s parents, made their initial appearances in Maricopa County court on Sept. 14.
Anca Sabo wept and covered her face with both hands as she stood beside an attorney representing the couple at the hearing. The attorney repeatedly described Theo’s death as an “unimaginable tragedy.”
Prosecutors said there was a miscommunication within the family over who was supposed to remove Theo from the vehicle. The father allegedly asked one of their teenage children to take the boy out, but the teenager later said he did not recall his dad asking him to do so, according to prosecutors.
Citing the seriousness of the allegations, prosecutors asked the judge to set each parent’s bond at $250,000, but the judge instead set bond at $150,000 each and ordered the parents to have no contact with one another, but were allowed supervised visits with their other children.
The attorney said the couple had four other children, including three minors and one 18-year-old, and that the family had lived in the Valley since 2011. The couple had been together for 19 years.
Anca Sabo worked as a family therapist, while Mihail Sabo worked as a construction estimator, the attorney said.
A family celebration ends in tragedy
The family returned home near 67th Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road at about 1 p.m. Sept. 13 after celebrating another child’s baptism at a church, Kennedy said.
At about 3:46 p.m., family members realized the boy was missing and began searching for him.
His mother found him unresponsive inside the vehicle. Family members pulled him out and began CPR before police and fire crews arrived, Kennedy said.
The boy was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Temperatures in the area reached 102 degrees shortly before 1 p.m. and 104 shortly before 3 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Police have not said how long the boy was inside the vehicle.
The boy was listed on the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's website, but the cause and manner of death were pending, as of Sept. 15.
Both parents were booked into the Maricopa County jail and were each held on a $150,000 bond. Their arrest documents were sealed by the court.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office received a case submission and was reviewing it as of Sept. 15, spokesperson Erin Pellett said.
No charging decision had been made, and the office declined to comment further while the case remained under review.
