A father in Texas was arrested after he allegedly killed his 2-year-old daughter after leaving her locked inside a hot vehicle for nine hours as he slept off the drinks he had the night before.
The Midland Police Department confirmed in a news release that Lorenzo Elias Rodriguez was charged with one count of capital murder of an individual under 10 years old.
The investigation into Rodriguez, 25, began when officers responded to a house on East Pecan Avenue around 7:56 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, after they received a report of an unresponsive child locked inside a vehicle.
Rodriguez’s family told investigators that he consumed alcohol on the evening of Saturday, July 25. They went to his home once they were unable to get in contact with him on Sunday, but couldn’t get into the residence. The family said they repeatedly knocked on the front door and eventually made their way into the house after they removed a window air-conditioning unit and climbed in through a window.
Relations found Rodriguez asleep around 8 p.m. and woke him up. Meanwhile, police said in the discharge that he had been sleeping since around 11 a.m.
Rodriguez’s brother and sister-in-law were unable to seek out the daughter inside the house, so that they “ran outside to a black Kia passenger automotive” and “found the kid contained in the vehicle.”
“The vehicle was not running, in response to police. The members of the family broke a window to achieve access to the vehicle and removed the 2-year-old child,” police said in the discharge.
The girl was then rushed to the Midland Memorial Hospital for treatment, but she was pronounced dead soon after her arrival.
Authorities launched a preliminary investigation into the matter and developed probable cause to charge Rodriguez with capital murder.
Rodriguez left the girl within the automotive amid extremely warm temperatures that reached 99 degrees in Midland on Sunday, in response to KDFW. The National Weather Service has found data that indicates the temperatures inside a parked vehicle can go as much as 130 degrees in lower than an hour when it’s around 99 degrees outside.
Rodriguez is currently being held within the Midland County Jail without bond.
It isn’t currently clear if Rodriguez has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following his arrest. The Midland Police Department didn’t immediately reply to Us’ request for comment regarding updates within the case.