A new report says that a Texas mom, who is in custody after the hot car deaths of her 2-year-old daughter and 16-month-old son, left the children in the hot car as means of punishing them. The children died on May 26, 2017, according to a Parker County sheriff’s news release. Their mother, Cynthia Marie Randolph, 24, originally told authorities the two children disappeared while she was performing household duties and she found them locked in the car. Authorities later revealed that Randolph continued to change her story during the course of the investigation until finally admitting she allegedly put the children in the car as punishment. According to reports by the AP and CBS , Randolph was held without bond on Saturday on two counts of causing serious bodily injury to a child. You can watch several video reports regarding the hot car death arrest and investigation below.
The full statement made by Randolph isn’t available yet, but according to reports, she told authorities that the children, 16-month-old Cavanaugh Randolph and 2-year-old Juliet Ramirez, died after she left them in the car to punish them. She also stated that after she left the children in the car with the doors shut, she went inside her residence, smoked marijuana, and after getting high, took a nap for several hours. A previous Go Fund Me page that had raised approximately $7,000 for funeral costs and more has stopped taking donations since word of Randolph’s arrest.
Previous reports also indicated that Cynthia Randolph had been visited by Child Protective Services before the children’s deaths, as stated by WFAA . CBS Local stated that Randolph implicated herself in the deaths of her children during an interview with Texas Rangers and the U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General.
While many parents have accidentally left their children in hot cars that have resulted in their deaths, this case may prove to be problematic for prosecutors. As Randolph allegedly intended to leave the children in the hot car to teach them a lesson, she may not have intended for them to die. Randolph will go before a judge for a bond hearing and more details will be revealed regarding the charges she’ll face. It’s unclear if the charges will remain as they are with causing serious bodily injury to a child or be upgraded to manslaughter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3NRDJ6DkBw
Parker County mother charged in deaths of children found in hot car. –> https://t.co/ICHBClxQDd pic.twitter.com/MZrPeOQJhz
— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) June 24, 2017
[Featured Image by Parker County, Texas, sheriff’s office via AP]
