3-Year-Old Girl Dies After She's Found Unconscious in Hot Car Alongside Her Mother: Reports

Mar. 15, 2025

Ily Elizabeth Ruiz.Photo:gofundme

gofundme

A mother in California has reportedly been charged with manslaughter over the death of her 3-year-old daughter.

Officials said officers responded to the area at around 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, after receiving reports of a medical emergency, per the outlets. A family member reportedly found the mother and child locked in the car on a day when temperatures outside the vehicle hit 104 degrees.

The family member pulled the 3-year-old out of the car and provided emergency aid to the child before first responders got to the scene. The girl and her mother were then transported to the hospital, where the 3-year-old was pronounced dead.

Officers reportedly found empty alcohol containers inside the car and noted that Hernandez and her daughter had been locked inside the vehicle for an unknown period before the family member discovered them.

The Anaheim Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the incident.

Nancy Salamanca, a cousin of the girl’s father, remembered the child as “a beautiful and innocent soul with a very loving and bubbly personality,” in a GoFundMe set up for the family in the wake of the 3-year-old’s death.

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“It’s still hard to wrap our minds around the thought ILY is no longer with us,” the GoFundMe post read. “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.”

According to theNational Safety Councilthere have been 31 child hot car deaths reported so far in the U.S. in 2024. The year prior, there were 29 deaths.

source: people.com