Infant Dies In Parked Car
Teen Mother Charged With Child Abuse
An 18-year-old woman was arrested Sunday after her infant son died when she allegedly left him in a parked car for more than seven hours while she went to work at McDonald's.
Diana Rodriguez, 18, the mother of 13-month-old Jovan Rodriguez, was arrested Sunday and charged with child abuse resulting in death after officials said that her son died of heat stroke on Saturday.
Police said that Rodriguez left the child around 11 a.m. in her parked car outside the restaurant on the 2000 block of South Academy Bouldevard.
Rodriguez returned and found him not breathing around 6:40 p.m., according to authorities. She brought the baby into the McDonald's, crying for help, but paramedics could not revive the baby, officials said. The mother was taken to a local hospital and treated for hysteria.
Authorities estimated that the boy died around 1 p.m., and there were no other injuries or factors, besides heat stroke, that would have contributed to the death of the baby.
"The El Paso County coroner's office... determined that the manner and cause of death was hyperthermia, or heat stroke. At this point (the coroner) has given some preliminary estimates that the temperature inside the car could have reached 130 degrees," Lt. Skip Arms, of the Colorado Springs Police, said.
Rodriguez was being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.
Watch 7NEWS for more on this story.
Diana Rodriguez, 18, the mother of 13-month-old Jovan Rodriguez, was arrested Sunday and charged with child abuse resulting in death after officials said that her son died of heat stroke on Saturday.
Police said that Rodriguez left the child around 11 a.m. in her parked car outside the restaurant on the 2000 block of South Academy Bouldevard.
Rodriguez returned and found him not breathing around 6:40 p.m., according to authorities. She brought the baby into the McDonald's, crying for help, but paramedics could not revive the baby, officials said. The mother was taken to a local hospital and treated for hysteria.
Authorities estimated that the boy died around 1 p.m., and there were no other injuries or factors, besides heat stroke, that would have contributed to the death of the baby.
"The El Paso County coroner's office... determined that the manner and cause of death was hyperthermia, or heat stroke. At this point (the coroner) has given some preliminary estimates that the temperature inside the car could have reached 130 degrees," Lt. Skip Arms, of the Colorado Springs Police, said.
Rodriguez was being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center.
Watch 7NEWS for more on this story.
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