Sandra Hernandez, Anaheim, California mom charged with hot car death of 3 year old daughter, Ily Ruiz. Mom was found in vehicle passed out with empty alcohol bottles.
A California mother has been charged with the ‘hot car’ death of her three-year-old daughter who was trapped in a family vehicle where temperatures soared to more than 100 degrees. The mother’s arrest follows her being found passed out with empty alcohol bottles in the vehicle.
Sandra Hernandez, 41, and her daughter Ily Ruiz were discovered by a family member inside a locked Ford Expedition at 1300 block of North Fashion Lane in Anaheim on Friday afternoon.
The family member managed to pull the unconscious child from the vehicle only for the 3 year old to be pronounced deceased after she rushed to hospital by paramedics.
How long was Anaheim mom and 3 year old daughter in car?
Hernandez was booked on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and felony child neglect, Anaheim police Sgt. Matt Sutter said on Monday. He also revealed that several bottles of alcohol had been found inside the vehicle, ABC 7 News reported.
It remained unclear if the mom was inebriated at the time of the incident. Also not clear is how long mother and daughter had been in the car prior to their discovery.
An official autopsy report is now pending with authorities saying that the child’s cause of death was complications from heat stroke. Temperatures that day had soared to a sweltering 104 degrees.
Hernandez was also taken to hospital and was later taken into custody after she had been medically cleared.
Ily’s father Juan Ruiz was overcome with grief following the death of his only daughter NBC Los Angeles reported.
In 2012, Ruiz lost two young sons aged 5 and 9 after they were killed when a drunk driver slammed into their tent while the family was camping in North Dakota.
Ily Ruiz’ father tragedy
The current relationship between Hernandez and Ruiz is unclear.
His cousin Nancy Salamarca said: ‘Ily was his princess, his daughter. He loves his kids. That’s what he lives for.
‘To know that he’s reliving this all over again, we’re just hurting for him,’ she continued. ‘He’s broken. He’s just devastated.’
Salamarca’s husband Waleed Salimi added that he has one surviving child left – a son named Lazarus.
‘He has one thing – one thing left for himself,’ Salimi said. ‘So he’s going to fight hard for his son, as we’re here to support him as a family.’
Salamarca has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the child’s funeral and memorial.
The donations, she explained, will also go towards helping her cousin relocate from Texas to California so he can care for his son and find a new job.
As of Tuesday night, more than $10,346 has been raised towards their goal of $25,000.
According to the National Safety Council there have been 31 child hot car deaths reported so far in the U.S. in 2024. The year prior, there were 29 deaths.
Temperatures inside a car on a hot day, even with the windows cracked, can rise 20 to 40 degrees higher than the outside temperature within minutes, according to the National Weather Service.
Anyone with information about the case can call the Police Department at (714) 765-1900 or the Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) TIP-OCCS.
