A 20-year-old woman from California is facing charges after allegedly leaving her two young sons in a hot car while she underwent a cosmetic procedure. Maya Hernandez pleaded not guilty to one count of manslaughter and two counts of willful cruelty to a child during her court appearance on July 1. She is currently being held at the Kern County Jail with bail set at over $1 million.
The charges stem from an incident on June 29, when Hernandez reportedly took her two sons, a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old named Amillio, to a medical spa in Bakersfield for a lip-filler procedure. According to the criminal complaint, Hernandez left her children in her car while she was inside the spa, despite having called earlier to inquire if she could bring her children inside with her. The spa had reportedly told her that her children could wait in the waiting room.
However, Hernandez chose to leave her children in her car, a 2022 Toyota Corolla hybrid, with the air conditioning on. The procedure she was undergoing was expected to take only 15-20 minutes, but due to the spa being busy that day, Hernandez was away from her car for approximately two and a half hours. During this time, she did not check on her children.
The car’s engine, designed to shut off after an hour, had turned off by the time Hernandez returned to her vehicle. The outside temperature that day had reached 101 degrees, and the car was warm inside. Police estimate that the children were left without air conditioning for about an hour and a half.
Upon returning to her car, Hernandez found Amillio having a seizure and foaming at the mouth. Spa employees rushed to help and brought the 2-year-old inside to cool him down with water. Police arrived at the scene at 4:45 p.m. Amillio, who had a body temperature of 107 degrees, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:48 p.m. His brother was hospitalized and later placed in child protective custody.
The boys’ father, currently incarcerated, was informed of his son’s death by a jail chaplain. According to the criminal complaint, Hernandez admitted to knowing it was irresponsible to leave her children in the car, but offered no justification for her actions. Hernandez is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on July 14.