A mother was arrested and charged after her 3-year-old daughter was found dead inside a hot car during a record-breaking heatwave in Southern California.
Sandra Hernandez-Cazares, 42, of Anaheim, was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of child abuse causing great bodily injury, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
On Sept. 6, family members began searching for Hernandez-Cazares after her son’s elementary school called to report that no one had picked up the 5-year-old boy.
Family members arrived at the woman’s Anaheim apartment on the 1300 block of Fashion Lane and spotted her Ford Expedition SUV parked outside. The woman and her daughter, Ily Ruiz, 3, were both found unconscious inside, authorities said.
Her family smashed in the SUV’s windows and attempted to resuscitate the toddler but she was pronounced dead. Doctors believe the child had been dead for several hours before she was discovered inside the locked car amid extreme temperatures.