A Midland father now faces a capital murder charge. Police say his 2-year-old girl died alone inside a hot car. This happened this past Sunday. Police say the father had slept off a night of heavy drinking.
Midland police got the call around 7:56 p.m. Officers came just before 8 p.m. Someone had found a toddler locked inside a car. She was not moving or waking up.
This case shows how fast a hot car can turn deadly. It can happen in just a few hours. Midland hit 99 degrees that day. The National Weather Service says a parked car heats up fast. It can climb about 20 degrees in just 10 minutes. It can pass 130 degrees, even 150 degrees, in under an hour. This is called heatstroke. It can kill a small child fast.
Police identified the father as Lorenzo Rodriguez, 25. Family members told police he had been drinking heavily the night before.
Rodriguez's brother and his wife went to his home in Midland on Sunday. They wanted to check on him and his little girl. They knocked on the front door again and again. Nobody answered.
The family got worried. They went around to another side of the house. There, they pulled a window air conditioner out of the wall. Then they climbed inside through that opening. They found Rodriguez asleep. Police say he had been asleep since about 11 a.m. That means he was passed out for hours.
They woke him up. Then the family searched the house for the toddler. She was nowhere inside.
They ran outside. There, they found the little girl locked inside a black Kia. It was parked at the home. The car was not running. The family broke a window to pull her out. They rushed her to Midland Memorial Hospital. Doctors could not save her. She died at the hospital.
Midland police kept investigating after the child died. Based on what they found, they arrested Rodriguez. He is charged with capital murder of a person younger than 10. Capital murder is the most serious charge in Texas. It can mean life in prison. That means no chance of ever getting out.
Hot car deaths happen almost every summer in Texas. They happen across the whole country too. Safety experts warn that a parked car turns into an oven fast. This can happen even on a mild day. It can happen even with a window cracked open. A child left inside can die from the heat. This can happen in a short time. Safety experts say never leave a kid alone in a car. Not even for a quick errand.
South Texas families see this same summer heat every year. Deep summer in Midland and in the Rio Grande Valley can both hit close to 100 degrees. Parents and caregivers everywhere are urged to check the back seat every single time they park.
The Midland Police Department led the investigation into the girl's death.
Rodriguez is locked up in the Midland County Jail. Jail records show his bond is set at 1.5 million dollars. Midland police have not shared many more details. They say the investigation is still open. El Tejano will update this story when more facts come out.
