A Texas woman has been arrested after police say she ‘intentionally’ left her baby in a hot car to die while she worked.
Vanessa Esquivel, 27, has been charged with murder after her 15-month-old child died on August 16, according to the Frisco Police Department.
Investigators said Esquivel left her baby, who has not been identified, in her car while she went to work in the 3200 block of Preston Road, which is located north of Dallas, at approximately 2.00pm.
The temperature outside was 95 degrees that day, according to Fox 4.
‘At that time, detectives believe Esquivel intentionally left her 15-month-old child for over two hours in a vehicle she knew did not have working air conditioning,’ police said.
Police launched their investigation in Esquivel after they were notified of the baby’s death by Medical City Plano.
‘Based on information gathered during the investigation, Frisco Detectives believed probable cause existed that Esquivel had committed murder, as her intentionally leaving the child in the car caused injury/endangered the child, which is a felony,’ police said.
‘Because it resulted in the child’s death, her actions met the statutory requirements of murder.’
Vanessa Esquivel (pictured), 27, has been charged with murder after her 15-month-old child died in a hot car on August 16
Police said Esquivel left her baby in her car on a 95 degree day while she went to work in the 3200 block of Preston Road (pictured)
Detectives obtained a warrant for her arrest, and Esquivel was subsequently arrested by Dallas Police on August 20.
She transferred to the custody of Frisco officers that same day and put in the Collin County Jail with a $250,000 bond.
If convicted of first-degree murder, she faces a sentence between five years to life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Roughly 37 American children die from being trapped or left to roast in hot cars each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
More than half of all hot car deaths are the result of someone forgot their child in the vehicle.
About 47 percent of people who forget their kids in the backseat meant to drop them off at school or daycare, NHTSA reported.
Last month, an adorable toddler died two days before his second birthday after he was left in a hot car by his foster father for over eight hours, according to police.
Hudley Owen Hamlett was found unresponsive on July 31 after his legal guardian, Brian Dalton, left him in a hot car while he went to work in Virginia, officials said.
Esquivel is accused of intentionally leaving her 15-month-old child for over two hours in a vehicle she knew did not have working air conditioning
Police launched their investigation in Esquivel after they were notified of the baby’s death by Medical City Plano (pictured)
The tragedy was uncovered when Dalton arrived at the Chestnut Academy day care at about 3.30pm to pick Hudley up but was informed the toddler had not been dropped off that day.
That’s when Hudley was discovered strapped in the back of the vehicle Dalton had driven to work that morning.
Dalton had left the boy in his car as he worked an eight-hour shift and did not realize it until he went to the daycare in the afternoon, according to officials.
Temperatures in Amherst County, about a 120-mile drive from Richmond, reached 88 degrees on Thursday afternoon.
Dalton was taken into custody at the scene and was charged with abuse and neglect of children and involuntary manslaughter.
