CALIFORNIA: A 20-year-old California mother, Maya Hernandez, has been charged with second-degree murder after allegedly leaving her two young sons in a car for over two hours while she visited a med spa, resulting in the death of her 1-year-old son.
Prosecutors accuse Hernandez of placing her vanity above her children’s safety. On June 29, Hernandez left her 1-year-old son, Amillio Gutierrez, and 2-year-old son, Mateo, in her car in a parking lot in Bakersfield while she spent two and a half hours inside a spa for lip injections. Though the procedure itself only took 20 minutes, Hernandez reportedly stayed inside afterward to socialize. Despite offers from staff and friends to look after her children, Hernandez chose to leave them in the vehicle.
When she returned at 4:33 p.m., the outside temperature had reached 101°F (38°C), and the car’s interior was estimated to be as hot as 116°F (46°C). Tragically, Amillio was found unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at the hospital with a body temperature of 107.2°F. His brother, Mateo, survived the incident.
Hernandez’s defense attorney, Teryl Wakeman, claimed the tragedy was a “terrible mistake,” stating that Hernandez had left the car running with the air conditioner on, along with snacks and a phone for the children. However, the Toyota Corolla automatically shuts off after one hour of inactivity, and the vehicle had been off for much longer.
While Hernandez has admitted to charges of manslaughter and child cruelty, she has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.
