Overview

• A concerned citizen’s 911 call on June 4 alerted officers to two children trapped alone inside a car outside Cumberland Mall.
• Body-worn camera footage shows officers breaking the window and extracting the children from an interior that reached 117°F.
• The children’s father, J’quawn Dixon, was charged with two counts of second-degree child cruelty, released on an $11,220 bond and is awaiting his next court date.
• Officials stress that Georgia’s Good Samaritan law shields bystanders who rescue children from hot vehicles and they are using the video in public safety campaigns.
• Advocates point out that an average of 37 children die annually in hot cars nationwide, with 39 fatalities reported in 2024.