Hannah Cormier, Jennings, Louisiana mom charged with murder of baby left in hot car for two hours with internal temperatures of vehicle reaching 140 Fahrenheit. Mom is accused of having prior history of child abuse according to her ex-husband.
A Louisiana mom was arrested on Sunday and charged with murder, days after leaving her baby in her car for two hours in the summer heat, leading to the child’s ‘hot car death‘, police said.
Hannah Faith Cormier, 32, of Jennings told police she ‘accidentally’ left her 10-month-old daughter in the car when she was called into work on Tuesday, Aug. 13, Jennings Police Chief Danny Semmes said.
Previous child abuse alleged
Investigators determined the internal temperature of the vehicle was from 140° to 150°. Cormier’s work records indicate she was at work for two hours, according to Semmes.
Cormier brought the child to the hospital around 4 p.m., and hospital staff contacted law enforcement. Semmes said the child had a temperature of 109 degrees when she arrived at the hospital. The baby passed away in the hospital the following night.
Investigators poured over witness statements and surveillance video, and eventually arrested Cormier on Sunday, Aug. 18. Semmes called the case complex, KPLC-TV reported.
‘This is not a simple case,’ Semmes said. ‘It’s very complex. It’s a lot of moving parts, a lot of people to interview, and a lot of data to recover forensically. Those were the things that led us to charge her with second-degree murder rather than negligent homicide.’
Adding fissure to Cormiers’ case are allegations made by her former husband of alleged child abuse.
Nick Ashworth speaking to KLFY says he filed a report against the mother in 2016 for an alleged incident involving his then 4-month-old child.
The then husband said the 2016 report accused Cormier of shoving his infant daughter’s head into a pillow to stop her from crying.
‘No one ever believed me. Then the police reports were never to be found when I went to court. And then, now all of a sudden, they found them. This is pretty much helping the case,’ Ashworth told the outlet.
Ashworth who shares two children with Cormiers has since indicated he will now be seeking to obtain full custody of the children and has since involved the Department of Child and Family Services.
Cormier faces one count of cruelty to juveniles and one count of second-degree murder. She is held on a $1 million bond. Semmes said the charges brought against her could carry a life sentence.
Twenty-three children have died in hot cars this year. According to No Heat Stroke, 29 children died of vehicular heatstrokes in 2023.
