Hot Car Death – California Mom Faces Murder Charge

Two young children suffered severe consequences after being left unattended in a hot car during extreme heat in California. Authorities reported that one child lost their life while another was hospitalized in serious condition. Initially facing manslaughter charges, the children’s mother now faces upgraded charges of murder.

The Mom Was Not Ignorant

The child who died was one-year-old Amillio Gutierrez, and his two-year-old brother likely only survived because he was able to sweat better than the younger child. Despite admitting she knew the heat could kill her children, Maya Hernandez still walked away for a cosmetic procedure.

According to TooFab’s new update, she had left the kids in the car and the door unlocked. She also alleged that she left them something to drink, but didn’t want to wake them as they were asleep. But it seems her statement to police landed her in hot water.

The outlet cited a police officer as stating that she said, “It’s not like I left them in there for them to just f–king die.”  She also “allegedly admitted she knew it was hot that day and knew death was a possibility when leaving a child in a warm vehicle.”

New Charges Of Murder

Originally, the mother of the boy who died in the hot car this summer was placed on bail of about one million dollars. It was thought that she would face a manslaughter charge, but in a new development, murder was added to the docket.

This came when details emerged that the baby had a temperature of over 107 degrees, and hospital staff were unable to revive him. It’s not clear, but if she hadn’t arrived back at the car when she did , and without the help of people from the spa, whether either child would have survived.

The outlet wrote, “the judge allowed a murder charge to be added during a court appearance on Tuesday.” The next time Maya Hernandez appears in court, which is set for next week, she will be “arraigned on the new charge.” For now, she remains behind bars and her older child was taken away by child protective services.

Reactions On Social Media 

Maya was 20 when the death happened, and her lawyer argued that at her age, her reasoning wasn’t yet fully developed. But that didn’t make much difference to those who reacted to the sad tale of a dead child who suffered in the hot car.

One person noted when TMZ shared the updated story on Instagram, “May she get the longest sentence. No sympathy for her negligence. What did she think would happen!”

Here are a few other reactions:

• I wouldn’t even leave a pet in the car and people still leaving babies in this heat smh.
• Yeah…sorry you won’t get any sympathy from anyone here. Those kids on the other hand deserved so much better out of a “mom.”
• And it’s sad that the person who was doing the service even offered to take her babies inside.

Actually, the initial report did mention that the woman was free to take her kids indoors when she had her lips done. Perhaps that’s why the charge was bumped up to murder. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below, and come back here often for all your parenting news and updates.