Texas Mom Faces Criminal Charges After Kids Die in a Hot Car
Why are Texans missing the message that hot cars can kill?
It's a mystery to me why these hot car deaths keep happening. In one of the most recent cases, a mom apparently left her kids in the car on purpose, to teach them a lesson.
Earlier this month we had the story about the mother in Kerrville who left her two young daughters in a warm car for almost 15 hours, while she was inside a friend's house. The two girls (ages 1 and 2) died later at a hospital, and they're still investigating and interviewing witnesses in that case. A grand jury will decide soon whether Amanda Hawkins will face criminal charges.
Criminal charges are pending in another hot car death, that happened outside of Fort Worth May 26th. A 2-year old girl and a 16-month old boy died after investigators said their mom, Cynthia Randolph, left them in the hot car to "teach them a lesson." The kids had been playing in a back room of the home at first and then disappeared, and the mother said she found them playing in the car. She shut the door of the car to teach them that "lesson," with the thought in mind that the older child would be able to open the door and get out if she wanted to. WFAA reported Randolph went inside the house to smoke marijuana and fell asleep. It was 96 degrees in Parker County that day.
If anyone is learning a "lesson" right now, it's the mother, Cynthia Randolph. Her life has changed in a hundred ways because of that split second decision, and the repercussions may last for the rest of her life. She's without her two children, and she's facing felony charges.
Another story popped yesterday, about a 3-year old boy who crawled into a hot car on his own in Fort Worth last weekend, and the parents found him dead inside the car about 45 minutes after he left their sight. It was 98 degrees outside that day, proving that it doesn't take long for temperatures to get to a toxic level inside a vehicle.
That last story seems to be a tragic accident, but it's another sad reminder that hot cars life-threatening. Something for us Texans to keep top-of-mind this 4th of July weekend.