A 20-year-old California woman is facing serious charges after allegedly leaving her two young sons in a hot car while she underwent a cosmetic procedure — an act that resulted in the death of her 1-year-old son.
Maya Hernandez pleaded not guilty on July 1 to one count of manslaughter and two counts of willful cruelty to a child. She remains in custody at the Kern County Jail, with her bail set at over $1 million.
According to court documents and police reports, Hernandez brought her sons — a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old Amillio — to a medical spa in Bakersfield on June 29 for a scheduled lip-filler procedure. That morning, she had called the spa to ask if her children could wait inside with her. A staff member reportedly responded, “Sure, if you don’t mind them waiting in the waiting room, hun,” according to local outlet KERO.
Despite being allowed to bring them in, Hernandez left the boys locked in her 2022 Toyota Corolla hybrid, strapped in their car seats, while outside temperatures reached 101 degrees. Police say the vehicle was left running with the air conditioning on, but the car — designed to automatically shut off after about an hour — turned off during her absence.
The procedure itself should have taken 15 to 20 minutes, but staff told police Hernandez was away from the vehicle for about two and a half hours. During that time, she did not check on her children once, according to police.
When she returned to her car at approximately 4:30 p.m., she found Amillio unresponsive, foaming at the mouth, and having a seizure. Employees of the spa rushed out to assist and brought the 2-year-old inside to cool him down. Emergency responders arrived at 4:45 p.m. Amillio’s body temperature was recorded at 107 degrees, and he was pronounced dead at 5:48 p.m. His older brother was hospitalized and later placed into child protective custody.
Police estimate the boys were without air conditioning in the hot car for at least an hour and a half.
During her police interview, Hernandez admitted she knew leaving the children in the car was irresponsible. The criminal complaint states she said she thought about it when she exited the car but had no justification for her actions.
A GoFundMe page revealed that the boys' father is currently incarcerated, and he learned of his son’s death through a jail chaplain, according to KFSN.
Hernandez is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary hearing on July 14.
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