'Teaching a lesson': Texas mother charged in deaths of toddlers left in hot car
A Texas mother has been arrested for the deaths of her two toddlers who she said were left in a hot car to teach the older child a lesson while the woman smoked marijuana and took a nap.
Cynthia Randolph, 24, is being held over the deaths of her 16-month-old son and two-year-old daughter last month, said Parker County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Danie Huffman.
Randolph had originally told investigators that she had been folding laundry and watching television in her rural home west of Fort Worth while her son Cavanaugh Ramirez and his sister Juliet Ramirez played in a back porch, according to a criminal complaint.
After noticing the children were missing, Randolph told officers she found them unresponsive in a locked car.
Texas mother Cynthia Randolph allegedly left her two toddlers in a hot car 'as punishment'. Source: Supplied
She told authorities she then broke a window to rescue them.
The temperature was close to 36 Celsius.
The mother called emergency services but they pronounced the children dead at the scene, the court filing states.
The mother allegedly left 16-month-old Cavanaugh and two-year-old Juliet in the car for several hours while she smoked marijuana and took a nap for several hours. Source: Supplied
Randolph repeatedly changed her story under questioning and told a Texas Ranger on Friday that she had found Juliet and Cavanaugh playing inside the car, the sheriff's office said.
When she told them to get out and they refused, the mother "shut the car door to teach Juliet a lesson, thinking she could get herself and her brother out of the car when ready," the statement said.
Randolph went inside the house, smoked marijuana and took a nap for two or three hours.
Cavanaugh and Juliet died at the scene. Source: CBS
When she awoke, she found the children unresponsive inside the car and broke the window to make it look like an accident, the statement said.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help the family cover the costs "lay these beautiful children to rest" after news of what was first thought to be a tragic accident broke.
"This is a time for family, friends, and members of our community to help out a family in need," states the page that is no longer accepting donations.
Randolph faces two first-degree felony counts of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury and being held on a $200,000 bond.
Randolph reportedly changed her story several times. Source: Supplied
Huffman and a person who answered the phone at the Parker County jail had no information about whether she had an attorney.
Thirteen children left in vehicles have died of heat stroke this year, and 713 have died since 1998, according to the NoHeatStroke.org website maintained by Jan Null, a meteorology lecturer at San Jose State University in California.
- With Reuters
