(FRISCO, Texas) — A Texas mother has been arrested for murder after her 15-month-old was left in a hot car for over two hours and died, police said.
Police said 27-year-old Vanessa Esquivel “intentionally” left the child in a vehicle while at work on Aug. 16 in Frisco.
“At that time, detectives believe Esquivel intentionally left her 15-month-old child for over two hours in a vehicle she knew did not have working air conditioning with an outside temperature of at least 95 degrees,” the Frisco Police Department said in a press release Thursday announcing the arrest.
Frisco police officers responded to a hospital in Plano on Aug. 16, after local police alerted them to an infant death that likely occurred in Frisco.
Officers learned that the child had been left in a car for over two hours, after the child’s mother arrived at her workplace in Frisco around 2 p.m. that day, police said.
Detectives obtained a warrant for Esquivel’s arrest for first-degree murder, and Dallas police arrested her on Aug. 20, police said. She has since been booked into the Collin County Jail, where she remains held on $250,000 bond, online jail records show.
If convicted, Esquivel faces between five years and up to life in prison, police said. It is unclear if she has an attorney at this time.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
- Texas mom arrested for murder in death of 15-month-old ‘intentionally’ left in hot car for over 2 hours: Police - August 29, 2025
- Upcoming ‘upgrade’ to Holocaust Museum exhibit on US response to Nazi Germany sparks some staff concerns: Sources - August 29, 2025
- 2 students arrested for making threats to ‘shoot up’ a Texas high school: Police - August 29, 2025
