California mom arrested over hot car death of three-year-old girl - as cop release chilling details
A California mother has been arrested over the death of her three-year-old daughter who was trapped in a hot car where temperatures soared to more than 100 degrees.
A California mother has been arrested over the death of her three-year-old daughter who was trapped in a hot car where temperatures soared to more than 100 degrees.
The childs mother 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 but she later died after being rushed to the hospital by paramedics.
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.
Ily Elizabeth Ruiz, 3, was found unconscious in a hot car on Friday and died
Hernandez and her daughter were found in the locked Ford Expedition on Friday afternoon at 1300 block of North Fashion Lane in Anaheim
The official autopsy report is pending but authorities reported that the childs 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.
Ilys heartbroken father Juan Ruiz was overcome with grief over the tragic death of his only daughter.
Ruiz had previously 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.
The current relationship between Hernandez and Ruiz is unclear.
His cousin Nancy Salamarca said: Ily was his princess, his daughter. He loves his kids. Thats what he lives for.
To know that hes reliving this all over again, were just hurting for him, she continued. Hes broken. Hes just devastated.
Salamarcas 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 hes going to fight hard for his son, as were here to support him as a family.
The child pictured with her older brother is seen holding a bottle and smiling
In 2012, Ruiz two young sons - Alaries, five and Cyrisges, five - were killed when a drunk driver slammed into their tent while the family was camping in North Dakota
Salamarca has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for the childs 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.
It is with utmost heartbreak and sadness that we have to relay the passing of our cousin Juan’s precious little girl ILY ELIZABETH RUIZ, she wrote.
ILY was such a beautiful and innocent soul with a very loving and bubbly personality. It’s still hard to wrap our minds around the thought ILY is no longer with us.
She has been tragically taken from our family in such an unfathomable way, and all we want to do is ease the burden and pain her father Juan and the family are going through at this time.
We thank you and love you all for being there for Juan and the family, keeping ILY and the family in your thoughts and prayers, and we truly appreciate any help you can give, she added.
On Sunday, another three-year-old girl died after being left in a hot car for more than two hours in 101F heat in Arizona.
The girls family had returned home from an outing and had not realized she was still in the SUV parked outside, Buckeye police said.
The child and the parents names have not yet been released.
A police spokesperson said that no arrests have been made at this point, and the investigation was ongoing.
