Police have arrested and charged two people in relation to the death of a three-year-old girl in Townsville on Friday.
Authorities said early investigations suggest the girl died from heat exposure in a motor vehicle.
The child's 37-year-old mother and a 29-year-old male acquaintance have been charged with manslaughter.
Detective Senior Sergeant David Miles said the child was left in the car for a considerable period of time.
"We believe the vehicle was left at an address in Burdell early this (Friday) morning," he said.
"We were advised by the Townsville University Hospital at 2:45pm in relation to what had occurred."
Detective Miles said there will be a lengthy investigation into the timeline of events leading up to the child's death.
"The next part of our investigation will be to further identify the movements of all the parties involved and identify … their exact activities," he said.
"Suffice to say we have been given a fair bit of information up until this point which has been able to assist us with our inquiries going forward.
"We will be looking at the facets in relation to the care of this child, not only today but leading up to these events — which are an unfortunately very preventable and unfortunate tragedy."
The pair who have been charged are expected to appear in the Townsville Magistrates Court on Saturday.
