A one-year-old boy died after his mother allegedly left him trapped in a hot car for hours as she got lip filler.
Maya Hernandez, 20, is accused of leaving her son, Amillio Gutierrez, and his two-year-old brother fastened to their car seats in her Toyota Corolla hybrid outside the Always Beautiful Med Spa in Bakersfield, California.
Amillio was foaming at the mouth, convulsing and unresponsive, and had a body temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit when Hernandez returned to her car around 4.30pm on June 29.
He was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead just before 6pm.
Amillio’s older brother survived.
‘When his mom left him and his 2-year-old brother alone in her car, Amillio was so special; he always had a smile no matter what,’ wrote the boys’ grandmother, Katie Martinez, in a GoFundMe page for his celebration of life.
‘He is loved by so many, our lives will not be the same.
‘His brother will forever be without his best friend.’
Hernandez told police officers that she left the air conditioning and car on while going in for the cosmetic procedure, according to arrest documents obtained by KFSN.
But investigators said her car was warm and that it had a feature to automatically turn the engine off after an hour.
The two boys are believed to have been trapped inside without air conditioning for at least an hour-and-a-half.
‘They were strapped in their car seats. They couldn’t even get up to save themselves,’ their grandmother, Katie Martinez, told the TV station.
‘She literally locked them in their car seats and shut their doors.’
Martinez was also shocked at Hernandez’s actions.
‘She wasn’t like that. She was a really loving mom,’ the grandma said.
‘Those boys loved her. They really loved her and they relied on her.’
A nurse at the spa reportedly told officers that Hernandez asked if she could bring her kids with her as she got the procedure done, and did not say that they were in the car when she arrived. The lip filler appointment apparently only took 15 to 20 minutes.
Hernandez has since been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child cruelty, and is being held at on a more than $1million bail. She is slated to appear for a preliminary hearing in court on Friday.
A vigil for Amillio was held at a park on Saturday. The GoFundMe page to bring his body home to Porterville and hold a celebration of life for him had raised $174 as of Tuesday evening.
‘He just started walking on Thursday, and on Sunday, he gained his angel wings. I will never be the same without him,’ Martinez wrote.
‘Amillio Gutierrez, my grandson, I will be with you again in heaven. Until we meet again, you are missed so much.’ Please help us bring him home to his brother and to our family. ‘
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.