A young mom whose one-year-old son died after she left him in a scorching hot car while she got lip fillers has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
Maya Hernandez, 20, will spend a maximum of 15 years in prison after her first-degree murder charge was downgraded to involuntary manslaughter following the agreement on Wednesday.
Hernandez is facing charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and child cruelty. The 20-year-old could face life behind bars if found guilty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa5jxurzcFw Law&Crime Trials
Hernandez left her two children in the 116F heat for over two hours while she got the injections in Bakersfield, California, on June 29.
The lip fillers only took around 20 minutes, but she stayed chatting for another two hours about her Fourth of July plans while her kids were trapped in her Toyota Corolla.
Prosecutors previously claimed she only left the spa to get her phone, not the check on the children, and chose “vanity” and “her appearance” over them.
She found her son Amillio Gutierrez “limp” and “purple”, while her two-year-old son Mateo “looked like he was having a stroke.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa5jxurzcFw Law&Crime Trials
Amillio was rushed to the ER with a temperature of 107.2F, and was “pale with blue lips, feet and hands, unconscious and with no pulse.” He was later pronounced dead.
Mateo had an internal temperature of 99F, but survived.
A mistrial verdict last year on the first-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges complicated the prosecution’s efforts.
Kern County Chief Deputy DA Eric Smith wanted to try Hernandez on the charges, but took a plea deal to the defense following the mistrial.
He said on Wednesday: “We did a review of: is there anything that we could potentially do differently in a second trial? We also took — put great weight into what the jurors didn’t provide in this case.
“Ultimately, it was a mistrial for count one, the murder count. We took into account that 12 members of our jury heard all of the evidence, and ultimately, it was split towards not guilty, so we had to take that into account as to their result.”
He added: “So based on that, we decided to enter into settlement negotiations, and that’s what she pled to today.”
Hernandez pleaded no contest to the involuntary manslaughter charge as well as two additional enhancements of child cruelty.
Her sister told ABC 23 after the plea deal that she thought the murder charge was “a little excessive given the amount of intent.” She said: “She didn’t have — she didn’t have any intent for the kids to get hurt.
“Obviously, she did a neglectful thing, and it led to my nephew’s death, but I don’t believe she had any intent on that happening.”
Hernandez’s defense argued she had no ill intent in leaving her children alone in the car. They said she kept the air conditioning on at 60F and left them snacks, but her car shut off after an hour.
Hernandez’s sentencing is set for March 5.
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