Parents charged in the death of 2-year-old daughter left in their car after a party

A couple from Humble, Texas got charged in connection with the heat death of their 2-year-old daughter in September.

The toddler died after being left in a locked car overnight after her parents got home drunk after a party.

The 25-year-olds, Angel Esquivel-Blanco, and Olga Esquivel both got charged with child abandonment for the fatal incident that took place on September 16.

Kim Ogg, the Harris County District Attorney, said during a news release:

“Parents have a duty to protect their children, and these parents will forever live with their child’s horrible death and suffer the consequences of their actions.”

Source: Twitter/ABC7 Eyewitness News ‏

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The two-year-old Alicia Esquivel died of heat exposure after spending hours in the backseat of a car.

Olga Esquivel had additionally been charged with tampering with a corpse and also changed her version of events twice while Angel insists that he didn’t know his wife had left their daughter in the car.

At first, Olga told investigators that after the family returned from a party on the evening of September 15, she helped her drunk husband inside the home and then they all fell asleep together.

Source: Twitter/ABC7 Eyewitness News ‏

When Olga woke up around noon, she noted that her daughter felt feverish, about an hour later she claimed that she and her husband called 911.

The reason given for the late phone call for help was that one of the cell phones was on charge while the other cell phone was nowhere to be found.

Source: Twitter/ABC7 Eyewitness News ‏

After authorities found photos and a video taken much earlier during the day at 10:40 am of the toddler in the car, Olga changed her story quickly and told police that she did leave her 2-year-old daughter in the car overnight.

Shortly before her death, little Alicia picked up the cell phone in the car and took two photos and a video which also showed a pair of scissors lodged between the door and the passenger seat.

Source: Twitter/ABC7 Eyewitness News ‏

It was around noon on December 16 that Olga realized Alicia was still in the car. She found Alicia unresponsive on the front passenger seat and splashed water over her face and performed CPR and finally called the police around 2:55 pm.

All the charges are second-degree felonies and carry up to 20 years of prison time, according to the District Attorney’s office.

A similar case got scheduled to appear in court on November 13, after 34-year-olds Dusan J. Jenkins and Latoya Walters got arrested and charged in connection with the death of their 4-year-old son, Dusan.

The two brothers, 4-year-old Dusan, and his 2-year-old brother climbed into a car unaccompanied and locked themselves in. Their father, Dusan J. later discovered the boys and dialed 911.

4-year-old Dusan died, while his 2-year-old brother got taken to the hospital and released a week later.

Dusan J. got charged with criminally negligent homicide, the risk of injury to a minor, and reckless endangerment in the second degree.

Latoya’s list of charges includes reckless endangerment in the second degree, giving of a false statement, and risk of injury to a minor.

The next heartbreaking story shows how heat death is not the only way a toddler can die in a car.

On March 19, 25-year-old Kim Rowlands posted a plea to Facebook asking that everyone share that her car got stolen with her 2-year-old daughter, Kiara Moore inside.

Around 3:30 that afternoon Police received a call regarding the stolen vehicle which was last seen outside the Scout Hall in Cardigan. Police found Kim’s car in the River Teifi with her daughter, Kiara still inside, she got taken to hospital where she got pronounced dead after doctors were unable to resuscitate little Kiara.

Every year numerous reports surface of small children dying as a result of being left in a car. When will parents become more vigilant in preventing such tragedies from occurring?

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