Chattanooga man arrested after infant daughter dies from overheating

Nicholas Merrill. Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — A Chattanooga man is in custody after his 11-month-old daughter died of hyperthermia, or overheating.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office arrested 30-year-old Nicholas Peter Merrill on Wednesday, September 6.

He faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child neglect, online reports show.

The medical examiner’s report says Merrill carried his daughter into Erlanger Children’s emergency room on July 23, 2023. The hospital contacted the Hamilton County forensic center at around 3:20 p.m. on that day.

Merrill told nursing staff that he left his daughter in a car seat for 13 hours, from 1 a.m. until 2 p.m. He also said he left the child in his kitchen, while still in the car seat.

Medical examiners declared her cause of death to be exposure to high environmental temperatures.

The sheriff’s office called the death a homicide.

He is on a $100,000 bond, according to the sheriff’s office.