Medical services failed to revive the infant, who had been left unattended for at least an hour in the heat in Courthezon, near Avignon, where temperatures reached 34C, local officials told AFP.
The mother had picked up the child from his babysitter, then returned to the house later to chat with her, leaving the infant in the car, public prosecutor Bernard Marchal told AFP.
"Based on the information, this is at the very least a case of gross negligence by the mother for having left her child in the direct sunlight" in a car, he said.
The mother, 31, has been hospitalised on doctor's orders and an inquiry into involuntary manslaughter has been opened.
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