Background: 3200 block of Preston Rd. in Frisco, Texas (Google Maps). Inset: Vanessa Esquivel (Collin County (Texas) Jail).
A Texas woman has been arrested after authorities claim she intentionally left her infant locked inside a hot car without air conditioning, resulting in the child’s death.
Vanessa Esquivel, 27, faces murder charges in Frisco, according to a police announcement made on Thursday. Law enforcement reports that Esquivel’s child died on August 16 when she “intentionally” left the baby in the vehicle for several hours with temperatures soaring into the mid-90s.
The police statement noted that Esquivel “arrived at her work on the 3200 block of Preston Road around 2:00 p.m.” Detectives believe she “intentionally left her 15-month-old child in a vehicle without functional air conditioning for over two hours, in outside temperatures of at least 95 degrees.”
Weather tracking services recorded the high in Dallas that day as 96 degrees.
Investigators were alerted to the infant’s passing after responding to a call at Medical City Plano hospital. Authorities state that Esquivel’s actions in Frisco, a city situated in the northern area of the Dallas-Fort Worth region, jeopardized the child’s safety, causing injuries that led to the baby’s death.
The statement further revealed Esquivel’s arrest on August 20. Online records confirm she remains in custody at the Collin County Jail with a $250,000 bond as of Friday.
Court and jail records do not indicate an upcoming court date for Esquivel.
If convicted, she faces a sentence of five years to life in prison.
