A California mom has been arrested and charged after her one-year-old son died inside her hot car while she was getting a cosmetic procedure inside a spa.
Maya Hernandez, 20, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and child cruelty after she allegedly left the infant and his two-year-old brother alone for several hours inside her car while she was getting lip filler at the Always Beautiful Medical Spa in Bakersfield on June 29, according to NBC News.
She has pleaded not guilty and is being held in lieu of US$1 million bail, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.
A Bakersfield police report, viewed by the Los Angeles Times, said that Hernandez told police she called 911 after discovering her youngest son, Amillio Gutierrez, having a seizure when she returned to her car after finishing her appointment.
Officers arrived at the scene and found him “unconscious, not breathing and had blue discoloration around his lips,” according to the police report.
Hernandez’s other son had “soaking wet” hair and “appeared lethargic,” the report added.
An ambulance transported both children to Adventist Health hospital. The one-year-old boy wasn’t breathing, had no pulse, and his lips were blue upon arrival.
Medical personnel attempted to perform life-saving measures, but the boy was pronounced dead an hour later.
The other child recovered and has since been placed in protective custody, according to the police report.
Hernandez told police that she left her children in their car seats in the backseat of her 2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid with the car’s engine running and the air conditioning on when she went inside the spa around 2 p.m.
She said she left them with crackers, candy and milk, and her cell phone so they could watch television.
Once Hernandez returned to her car around 4:30 p.m., she said she noticed her younger son was “appearing to have a seizure due to him foaming at the mouth and shaking.”
The police report claims that Hernandez’s car has an automatic feature that shuts off its engine after it has been left running for one hour while in park.
Police estimated that the engine in Hernandez’s car automatically shut off around 3 p.m. and turned off the vehicle’s air conditioning for around 90 minutes before she returned at around 4:30 p.m.
When police asked Hernandez why she didn’t bring her sons inside the med spa with her, she said she didn’t think anything would happen since she left her car running with the air conditioning on.
“(Hernandez) stated she was certain that her car would stay on with the air conditioning running the whole time she was gone, because she had been in her car for extended periods of time before and had even slept in her car,” the report added.
Earlier that day, Hernandez had texted a nurse at the spa to ask if she could bring her children inside. The nurse said, “Sure if you don’t mind them waiting in the waiting room,” according to the police report.
The police report noted that the National Weather Service said it was 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.3 C) in Bakersfield on June 29, and the internal temperature inside her car likely reached 143 degrees Fahrenheit (61.6 C ) that afternoon.
“Hernandez admitted that she knew her actions were irresponsible and that she considered that when she was getting out of the car, but she left them in the vehicle regardless,” Det. Kyle McNabb said.
McNabb noted that it is “commonly known that leaving young children unattended in a vehicle in extreme weather is dangerous and can result in death.”
The boys’ grandmother, Katie Martinez, told ABC News that she is devastated by the loss and the circumstances surrounding it.
“They were strapped in their car seats. They couldn’t even get up to save themselves,” she told the outlet. “She literally locked them in their car seats and shut their doors.”
“If you just take 20 minutes out of your day and go in your car and feel how it feels, I think that’s the only thing that will teach you how to know what a kid feels.”
Martinez added that it was out of character for Hernandez to leave her children in her car.
“She wasn’t like that. She was a really loving mom,” Martinez said. “Those boys loved her. They really loved her and they relied on her.”
Hernandez is scheduled to appear in court on July 11 for a pre-preliminary hearing.