BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A mother convicted of child endangerment appeared in court Tuesday for a brief hearing as prosecutors consider retrying her on a murder charge after jurors deadlocked during her initial trial in December.
Maya Hernandez, 20, could face a new trial on the murder charge after leaving her two young children in a hot car for two and a half hours while she waited for a cosmetic procedure.
One-year-old Amillio Gutierriez died after his body temperature reached 107 degrees. The two-year-old survived.
Hernandez left her children, ages one and two, in a Toyota while she waited for the procedure. She told police she left the car running with the air conditioning on, but investigators learned that vehicle model automatically shuts off after an hour.
Outside the courthouse, the children's grandmother said she wants justice.
"Justice for Amilio and Mateo. I want Maya to be tried and I want her to face what she actually did and she knows what she did. She not only knew she was trained and not to do it and she did it anyways," she said.
The judge set the next hearing for February 11.
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