Inset: Lorenzo E. Rodriguez (Midland County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Texas location where Rodriguez is accused of leaving his 2-year-old daughter in a hot car, leading to her death (Google Maps).
A Texas father is facing a capital murder charge after police say his 2-year-old daughter died inside a locked car where she was allegedly left for about nine hours as outdoor temperatures climbed close to 100 degrees.
Lorenzo Elias Rodriguez, 25, was arrested over the weekend and charged with capital murder of a person under 10 years old, according to court records. The Midland Police Department said in a news release that officers were called around 7:56 p.m. Sunday to a home in the 100 block of East Pecan Avenue after receiving a report that an unresponsive child was locked inside a vehicle.
Investigators said relatives told police Rodriguez had been drinking alcohol Saturday night. When family members could not reach him on Sunday, they went to his home to check on him and his daughter. After knocking several times with no answer, police said, they removed a window air-conditioning unit and climbed into the residence.
Inside, relatives found Rodriguez asleep and woke him at about 8 p.m. Authorities said he had reportedly been sleeping since around 11 a.m.
“The brother and sister-in-law were unable to locate the child inside the residence,” the release states. “They then ran outside to a black Kia passenger car, where they found the child inside the vehicle. The vehicle was not running, according to police. The family members broke a window to gain access to the vehicle and removed the 2-year-old child.”
The girl was taken by family members to Midland Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Police said that, based on the preliminary investigation, detectives established probable cause to arrest Rodriguez on a capital murder charge.
Court documents obtained by Midland CBS affiliate KOSA and Odessa-based NBC affiliate KWES reportedly mirror the sequence of events described by police, including that Rodriguez’s relatives entered the home after removing the window air-conditioning unit, found him asleep, searched unsuccessfully for the child inside, and ultimately located her in the locked vehicle outside.
The arrest comes as temperatures in Midland reached 99 degrees on Sunday, according to a report from Midland Fox affiliate KDFW, which cited National Weather Service data showing that temperatures inside a parked vehicle can climb well above 130 degrees in less than an hour under such conditions.
Jail records show he is being held in the Midland County Jail without bond. It was not immediately clear when he was scheduled to appear in court.
The post Dad left 2-year-old locked in sweltering car all day while he slept off night of drinking — by the time he woke up the boy was dead: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.
