A California mother became drunk and passed out in her car in 104-degree weather, killing her 3-year-old daughter in the back seat, authorities said.
Sandra Hernandez, 42, had several bottles of liquor in her Ford Expedition when a relative found her and her daughter inside in scorching Anaheim weather on Friday. NBC Los Angeles reported.
The couple were rushed to a nearby hospital where Hernandez's daughter, Eli Ruiz, was pronounced dead from suspected heat stroke, police told the outlet.
The mother, whose two sons, ages 5 and 9, were killed previously when a drunk driver crashed into their tent during a camping trip, leaving her unconscious in the SUV with a blood-alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit. According to KTLA.
Authorities do not believe the incident was a murder-suicide attempt, and have charged the mother with manslaughter and child neglect, which could mean up to 12 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
The girl's heartbroken father, Juan Luis, He told the Daily Mail He revealed that his estranged wife suffered from depression and turned to alcohol, and said he hated her, even though he was convinced it was a tragic accident.
“I told her family that she needed help, but no one listened,” Lewis said.
“In my mind it was not done intentionally, but it doesn't change the fact that she did it,” he said.
“I'm angry … I'm angry that her family won't listen to me,” he said.
“I just hate her so much right now. I hate her and I feel sorry for her. I hate her and I feel sorry for her. And I hate the fact that this happened and that my baby died like this.”
Still, he stressed, “I'm angry, but I'm trying to stay calm here and tell everyone that she would never do something like that on purpose.”
“Sandy is a good mother. She would never do something like that on purpose. She would never hurt her baby,” he told the outlet.
“We've already lost two babies,” he said of the boys who died during a camping trip in North Dakota in 2012.
After the tragedy, the father campaigned for tougher penalties for drunk driving. He and Hernandez went on to have two children together: son Lazarus, now 5, and daughter Elisabeth.
“She was my only girl. I never thought I'd have a girl,” he said of the child he recently lost. “I named her ILY, which stands for 'I love you.'”
Hernandez is currently being held on $150,000 bail.
