THOMASVILLE

Police are investigating the death yesterday of a 3-month-old baby who was found in his mother's car at the Thomasville Furniture Industries plant.

It appears that the baby, Jonathan Rafailan, may have died in the car from heat, said Garry Frank, the district attorney for Davidson County.

An autopsy should be conducted today at the state medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill, police said.

The boy was found at 3:37p.m. in his mother's 1995 Nissan Altima parked at Building C of the plant, said Detective Lt. Tim Driggers of the Thomasville Police Department.

The baby was found by his mother, Jenny Guzman, or by the baby's grand mother, police said.

Jonathan was not breathing when he was found, police said.

Guzman, 24, is an employee at Plant C, at 401 E. Main St. She arrived at work about 7 a.m. yesterday, police said. The boy's grandmother, whose name was not released, also might be a plant employee, police said.

Davidson County paramedics took Jonathan to Thomasville Medical Center, but he was dead upon arrival, police said.

Officers saw a baby seat in the back of the car. Someone had taken Jonathan out of the car by the time paramedics arrived, and it was unclear where he was when he was found, police said.

"Right now, it's unclear (how the baby died)," said police Sgt. Donnie Rowe. "We're still trying to figure out exactly what happened."

Police called an interpreter to help them interview Guzman and her family, who speak Spanish and some English, police said.

Frank, who spoke with police yesterday, said that they told him that Guzman may have left the child unattended in the car when she went to work.

He said he will decide whether to bring any charges after police finish their investigation.

"It all depends on what the investigation reveals," he said.

The temperature in Lexington at 2 p.m. was 88 degrees, and at 3 p.m. was 91 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

A 6-month-old baby died last July in Mooresville after his father left him in the car for up to nine hours.

Michael Heinen told police he thought that he had left his son with a baby sitter before driving to work at the Lake Norman Animal Hospital at 8:30 a.m. He found his son dead in the car at 6 p.m. Frank reviewed evidence in this case and decided not to bring charges.

A 2-year-old Greensboro boy died in 1999 after his aunt forgot him in a car when she went to choir practice, and a 19-month-old girl in Manassas, Va., died in late May after being left in a family van for several hours. The father in the Virginia case has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services warned parents this month of the dangers of leaving children in a car. Heat exhaustion can occur at temperatures above 90degrees and heat stroke can occur when temperatures rise above 105 degrees, the department said.

Even with the windows opened a bit, temperatures can climb that high inside a car in just a few minutes.

Heat stroke generally occurs when a body becomes dehydrated and cannot produce the sweat it needs to cool itself. Heat stroke can result in brain damage, liver and kidney damage, or death.

Parents should make sure that children aren't left in cars, especially on hot summer days, the health department said.