A two-year-old girl in Ohio was crushed to death in the back of her parents' brand new Hyundai SUV, with harrowing bodycam showing attempts to revive her in front of horrified bystanders and her grieving father's bewilderment.

Lucia Ayala died on the morning of March 7 in Akron after a power seat in a 2026 Hyundai Palisade suddenly folded down and trapped her, the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office told the Daily Mail on Thursday.

Lucia's death was accidental and caused by mechanical asphyxia, the medical examiner concluded.

The medical examiner also told the Daily Mail that it it appeared a button had been pressed, which caused one of the SUV's rear seats to push forward and fatally trap Lucia.

Bodycam footage obtained by the Daily Mail showed an Akron Police Department officer racing into the Restaurant Depot parking lot on Sweitzer Avenue. 

Lucia could be seen laying on the ground unconscious in a white shirt and pink pants as a woman and officer performed CPR.  The Daily Mail has blurred the footage because of its upsetting nature.

The youngster's shellshocked father, identified as Arnoldo Ayala in a public obituary, was later seen in bodycam footage speaking with an officer and trying to desperately work out how the car seat could have possibly trapped Lucia.

Last month's tragedy prompted Hyundai to issue a recall of the make and model involved, as a full investigation continues into Lucia's death.

The bodycam footage showed Lucia's dad telling police that his SUV's seats were 'not working.'

'Right now, I'm trying to put it up,' he said. 'It's not working. I don't know because we pulled it up so hard or something.'

A child safety seat was laid out to the side of the SUV as the conversation happened.

Investigators have yet to release full details of what happened to Lucia, but the medical examiner told the Daily Mail that her death was described as a 'child compressed by power folding seat in a parked SUV.'

A complete review of Lucia's death is expected to take up to 12 weeks.

Lt. Michael Murphy confirmed to the Daily Mail on Friday morning that Lucia's death had been deemed accidental.

He was unable to comment on whether an issue with one of the car's buttons used to activate the seat might have been to blame. 

'It's one of those things where it's really a freak accident where, however, the button was pressed, it went down and essentially crushed the child,' Murphy told the Daily Mail.

He pointed to the bodycam video to explain what might have happened.

'You can see that seat on the left side would not retract back up, and then he presses the button, and it shows that the right side or the passenger side is completely operable,' Murphy said.

Murphy told the Daily Mail that multiple bystanders pulled Lucia out of the seat and started giving her CPR afterwards.

Murphy added that no charges would stem from Lucia's accidental death.

A public obituary said Lucia was survived by her dad Arnoldo Ayala, her mother Victoria, her older sister Valentina and a large extended family including grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.

It also noted that the little girl's name had been chosen intentionally, as Lucia means 'light.'

'Never has a name been more perfectly given,' the obit read. 'Not only did Lucia come into our lives during a season when our family needed her light to shine brightest, but her flame continued to grow and guide us through one of the most pivotal chapters of our lives for two years.' 

Lucia was remembered as 'running around with her many cousins, always trying to keep up with the older kids & making us all laugh.'

A family friend, Michael Yeho, confirmed that he knew about Lucia's death when contacted by the Daily Mail on Thursday afternoon.

'Our kids grew up with with their kids,' Yeho said.

He added that Lucia's parents were 'wonderful contributors to the community, very active in their faith.'

'Just the kind of people you want to have in your life,' Yeho told the Daily Mail.

Lucia's funeral was officiated by pastor Jared Orndorff of the Saint Joseph Parish.

When the Daily Mail called the publicly listed number for Orndorff, a church worker said that he was out of town until the end of April but confirmed the funeral had taken place.

Six days after Lucia's death, Hyundai North America announced that it had issued a recall of its 2026 Hyundai Palisade Limited and Calligraphy trims on 'due to an issue with the second and third-row power seats.'

The company also addressed Lucia's death, though they did not directly name the little girl, saying it was 'aware of a tragic incident involving a Palisade.'

Hyundai North America told the Daily Mail that it had 'finalized the remedy' for the recall campaign.

'The final remedy is a software update that addresses a condition in which these power seat functions may not detect contact with an occupant or object as intended,' a Hyundai North America spokesperson said.

Hyundai added that the update was designed to 'enhance occupant and object detection.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to Lucia's parents, Arnoldo Ayala and Victoria Piermarini, as well as extended family members for further comment.