Ogona Anita
A California mother convicted in the d3ath of her 1-year-old son after leaving him and his brother in a hot car was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
Maya Hernandez pleaded no contest last month to involuntary manslaughter.
A second-degree murder charge was dismissed after a jury deadlocked in December, resulting in a mistrial on that charge.
Hernandez was also found guilty on two counts of child endangerment involving her sons, Amillio and Mateo.
Authorities said Hernandez drove from Visalia to Bakersfield in June for lip filler injections, leaving her 1-year-old and 2-year-old sons in the car with snacks and cartoons playing.
Investigators found the vehicle’s air conditioning shut off after about an hour, and the children were left in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees while Hernandez was inside a spa for more than two hours.
Amillio was found unresponsive when Hernandez returned and later d!ed after his body temperature reached 107 degrees. Mateo survived.
In court, the children’s paternal grandmother, Katie Martinez, addressed the sentence.
“15 years doesn’t look like enough,” Martinez said. “Our city wept for our Amillio.”
