Baby dies after California mom leaves him in car to get lip filler on 101-degree day, police say

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨FirstCircle@lemmy.ml⁩ to ⁨mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-07-09/baby-dies-in-hot-car-while-mom-was-getting-lip-filler-in-bakersfield

I know, this is Actually Infuriating, but … Also she didn’t just leave the now-dead kid in the car, she left two in there to die, but one survived. My guess: with brain damage. “Always Beautiful Medical Spa” FFS. Duck lips were totally worth it.

A baby died after his mother left him and his 2-year-old sibling inside a car while she was getting lip filler at a Bakersfield medical spa on a 101-degree day, authorities said.

It is estimated that Hernandez’s children were in the vehicle without air-conditioning for 90 minutes, wrote Det. Kyle McNabb, noting that the internal temperature of a car can rise to a blistering 143 degrees in just one hour of 100-degree weather.

Hernandez told police she found her baby foaming at the mouth and having an apparent seizure after emerging from her procedure at Always Beautiful Medical Spa, according to the police report. She frantically dialed 911, and both her children were transported to a hospital for treatment.

By the time her 1-year-old arrived at Adventist Health hospital, he wasn’t breathing, had no pulse, his lips were blue, and he had an internal body temperature of 107.2 degrees

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Pika@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is being held in lieu of $1,080,000 bail,

My initial thought for this was “How do you plea Not Guilty willfully leaving two children in a car for 90 minutes.” but then I found this later on

However, her 2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid is equipped with an automatic feature that turns the engine off if it has been left running for one hour while in park, police said. Police estimate that the engine turned off around 3 p.m. and the children were left without air conditioning until Hernandez returned around 4:30 p.m.

Still super shitty, but also I think change the tone a little. Her expectation was that the car was going to be climate controlled for the procedure. Still stupid of her, and kids shouldn’t be left alone that long, but it defo let me understand the “not guilty” plea

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- Bbbbbbbbbbb@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  She she parked at about 2, car turned off at about 3, she came back at about 4.30. She left a 1 year old and a 2 year old alone in public for 2.5 hours.
  
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  - onslaught545@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Exactly. Even if it was 68F outside, it’s still extreme negligence.
    
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  - Pika@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Correct yea, the 90 minute timeframe was without AC.
    
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- LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah I still think she should be charged with child endangerment though because you never leave kids that young (too young apparently to open the door and leave) alone unattended, especially for that long.
  
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  - Scrollone@feddit.it ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    …and especially in a running car.
    
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- tal@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I do think that from a UI standpoint, cars either need to support being left in park without the climate control eventually cutting off or be so extremely clear that this will happen that it would be extremely difficult for a user to miss, as this is a legitimate example of a “fail-deadly” feature.
  
  IIRC from reading comments from people who have slept in their car and very much want the ability to leave the climate control system active, at least some Toyota models do support leaving the climate control active for extended periods of time, but the car needs to be in “Ready” mode. It was not immediately obvious to users that this was the case.
  
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  - mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I own the same car, and it does tell you the car will turn off after an hour. As soon as the door is opened, you get a “car will automatically turn off after one hour. Do you want to disable this” type of message. It also pings you with the same message in the app.
    
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- Raiderkev@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Even if it weren’t for the car turning itself off, the car could overheat idling in the heat. Hybrids are not immune from that. I own one and had it happen while idling because my kid was napping and I stayed in the car with him in the driveway of the house. I was in the car, and noticed the AC suddenly got hot. I turned the car off and noticed the pool of coolant under the car. I woke up the kid, and went inside and ordered a radiator (which was a bitch to install btw). It’s incredibly negligent to leave your kids in a running car on a hot day. Also, someone could just come in and steal the running car with the kids in it. I hope they throw the book at her tbh.
  
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- stinerman@midwest.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  You always plead guilty when arraigned. That gives your lawyer time to make a deal with the prosecutor.
  
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  - Trainguyrom@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    IANAL but isn’t that the purpose of a “no contest” plea? Its a plea somewhere between guilty and not-guilty without the bad look of pleading not-guilty on something you’re obviously guilty of
    
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anachrohack@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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- Chip_Rat@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The car was left on but shut itself off after an hour. This lady was extremely negligent to leave her super young children alone for that long, but she wasn’t leaving them in a hot car.
  
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- FirstCircle@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Pic of her here, apparently taken from FB.
  
  She killed one of her kids, and would have killed two, in order to get an anus on her face.
  
  But then, who wouldn’t? Priorities, priorities.
  
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Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
jesus christ, the mother was fucking 20, and she was allowed to take the children into the lobby but opted out of it.

she blatently knew and asked about her options and chose the one with the highest risk.

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- FuglyDuck@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  wait… the staff NEW?
  
  Fuck them too.
  
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  - Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    they knew she had children, but im not completely aware she asked the day of the appointment or not. its completely possible she asked when booking the appointment on a different day. its just at some point the establishment was asked.
    
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- Moonrise2473@feddit.it ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Highest risk? Death was almost guaranteed in this case.
  
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  - onslaught545@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    She did leave the car running, but it shut off after an hour.
    
    It’s still super negligent to leave a 1 and 2 year old alone in public for 2.5h, regardless of the weather.
    
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  - Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    its only guaranteed because of the amount of time the surgery took in the end. if it was shorter, it would have been averted. (say if it eas hour 10 or 20, would have been still negligent but they would probably be alive. the actual time was double that)
    
    basically there was a chain of decisions and events that led to the deaths, but she still chose the one where the worst outcome was potentially death.
    
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reseller_pledge609@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
How the fuck does this even happen? How are they left in the car and not with grandparents or family? How do you not realise they are going to be VERY UNCOMFORTABLE at best or just straight-up DEAD when you get back?

This woman should go to prison for life and get plenty of mental health checkups and assistance while she’s in there. Just in case she’s ever released for whatever reason. Maybe she’ll come bavk functional.

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- Pika@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  For clarification/elaboration. The car was running when she left them. Her mentality was that they were going to sit in the AC the entire time, but unbeknownst to her, the car had an auto-shutoff feature that turns off the car after 60 minutes of idle in park. Not that it makes it much better, but it’s not like she intended the children to be in the heat that long.
  
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  - FirstCircle@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Leaving your baby children alone in a running car … you parents out there … clue me in, but isn’t this the pinnacle of irresponsibility, even on a cool day? I thought “you don’t leave kids alone in a running car” was a widely-known and accepted principle, probably since cars were invented. Fold into that the fact that the kids would be in a hazardous environment (protected only by the integrity of the A/C system) as well as in an unprotected environment (car break ins maybe, kidnapping, crashes (even in a parking lot), battery fires …), why would anyone think it would be preferable to leave one’s kids in such a situation, when
    
    Earlier in the day, Hernandez had texted the nurse performing her treatment to ask whether she could bring her children, to which the nurse responded, “Sure if you don’t mind them waiting in the waiting room,” according to the police report.
    
    No, no, much more convenient to leave them in SoCal sun in a parking lot in your car, for hours. And all this just to get your duck lips. FFS.
    
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- Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Prison isn’t designed for rehabilitation. It’s designed for legalized slavery.
  
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TheLoneMinon@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

However, her 2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid is equipped with an automatic feature that turns the engine off if it has been left running for one hour while in park, police said. Police estimate that the engine turned off around 3 p.m. and the children were left without air conditioning until Hernandez returned around 4:30 p.m.>

Looks like she left the car on and it shut itself off. Still inexcusably stupid, but it wasn’t quite as brain dead as just deciding to leave them in a hot car in the middle of summer.

Her child died because of her stupidity and the over-engineering of the 2022 Toyota Corolla. c\fuckcars

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- teegus@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  yes, but… you’re telling me that she left a 1 yo and a 2 yo alone for 2,5 hours? forget the car and the weather. You shouldnt do that ANYWHERE. I wouldn’t have left my kid alone for 2,5 minutes at that age.
  
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  - Fedizen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Our grand parents did this kind of stuff all the time. Kids were allowed to roam free in forests for hours. Weirdly if she’d left the kids in a forest they probably would be fine.
    
    A lot of the danger comes from car infrastructure. Parking lots might as well be the surface of mercury on a hot day with almost no shade. Traffic poses a lethal hazard to kids. Almost all shade is removed on purpose in public urban areas lest god forbid homeless people decide to hang out at a covered rest stop. And don’t even think of letting kids wander around shops or commercial areas.
    
    Not saying this lady did anything right but society has to own up to its role in making urban areas hostile to children.
    
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  - TheLoneMinon@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Not a parent, but I couldn’t imagine leaving an infant unattended for that amount of time, let alone in a car in a parking lot somewhere. I’m by no means excusing it, but things are fucked and every day the world seems to be getting dumber. I’m picking at the scraps of intelligence I can. Like yeah, she was dumb, but at least she THOUGHT there was AC in the car.
    
    Idk man, things ain’t great and Im trying to find the humanity. It’s getting tougher to do.
    
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  - chetradley@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Or if it’s my one year old, 2.5 seconds and she’s getting into something she’s not supposed to.
    
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- Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  And honestly, the vehicle engineers are partly to blame for this in my opinion. Are you telling me there are no sensors in the car to let you know if there is a person in the seat so that their stupid little seatbelt not fasten chimes can ring? If they can tell that there’s a person inside, or that there is still a seatbelt buckled, DON’T TURN THE AC OFF AUTOMATICALLY
  
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  - quokka1@mastodon.au ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    @Pyr_Pressure @TheLoneMinon Cars are seeming to forget who is in charge.
    I've a mate who's just dropped over 100k on a brand new LandCruiser and deliberately went for not the top-spec because it has too many "safety" features. And he's still finding things like it won't drive if a door is open - so no leaning out to reverse his towed caravan. Lane departure assist is ridiculously aggressive (and actually dangerous when towing a big caravan). Dog on the back seats sets the seatbelt alarms off. And way too much other stuff. Some of it can be disabled permanently with the aid of an ODB dongle.
    Car makers need to just stop.
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- Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I do not condon leaving children alone in a vehicle for ANY amount of time…
  
  But I also absolutely despise vehicle manufacturers thinking their unnecessary “features” are in any way needed at all, especially in a form which cannot be disabled or needs to be disabled after each time the vehicle turns off and then on.
  
  Fucking hate vehicle manufacturer engineers. Probably one of the least needed jobs out there.
  
  VEHICLES ALREADY HAVE EVERYTHING THEY NEED, STOP ADDING SHIT EVERY YEAR JUST FOR THE SAKE OF ADDING SHIT.
  
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  - Taleya@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Well what do you want them to do, increase fuel efficiency??
    
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FirstCircle@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

“The car was parked in a space facing west during the hottest part of the day.”

Hernandez was getting a lip filler procedure at the Always Beautiful Med Spa Sunday, according to reports. Those same reports say she didn’t check on her children until two and a half hours later.

“In a normal person, it’s not gonna happen,” said Gricelda Anaya.

Anaya works next door and saw people scrambling into the building to try to save the boys.

“What we see on the camera is that they’re trying to put cold water right here on the reception, and it was something very sad that never had to happen.”

Those scrambling people are probably going to have some kind of PTSD now too.

Oh and Dad’s in prison for some other unspecified reason.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/…/ar-AA1HVbMl

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Ilya12@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Is this woman crazy? What kind of sane person would leave their kid alone in a car for two hours, especially in this heat?

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- DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  If you’d read the article it would make a little more sense to you.
  
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ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
One of my more controversial views is that having children should require a permit, like adoption currently requires.

Yes I realize what the downsides would be.

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- Schmoo@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Personally, I think that’s the wrong approach. We’re very individualistic in the states and that leads to thinking that each child is the responsibility of their parent(s) and no one else, but if we had a more communal approach to raising children and acknowledged their wellbeing is a collective responsibility perhaps this could have been prevented. There’s a lot of personal dysfunction in this story, but that’s exactly the kind of thing that community can make up for.
  
  We should have well funded and robust childcare services so that people who aren’t responsible enough to take care of children have something to lean on. In a sane society one person dropping the ball shouldn’t result in a child’s death. Does having a communal place where children are well cared for without the need for payment really defy the imagination? In a nation where we can’t even provide basic healthcare perhaps it defies expectation, but we will never achieve what we can’t imagine.
  
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- Muaddib@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  So have you ever heard of eugenics?
  
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  - jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    and by etymology it is good
    
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- ryathal@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’ve seen that as a bit by a comedian before as well.
  
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flop_leash_973@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I don’t understand how someone makes the logical leaps they do in these kinds of cases. Even from a purely selfish stand point, the risk of exactly what happened and the fallout are just not worth it to make that appointment right then and there or just have the kids sit in the lobby.

I must be losing my grip on reality, trying to reason why someone that thinks this way does the things they do.

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- xta@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  if you can afford lip filler, you can afford in a babysitter, just my 2 cents.
  
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- Jesusaurus@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Just get a baby sitter for 2 hours… Assuming it’s really that critical (which obviously this was not…)
  
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- curiousaur@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Your first sentence, you assumed logical. The average person is dumb. Straight up stupid.
  
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- Pika@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  So many steps were taken here that made no sense. Like why would the mom even think it was ok, and why did the office tell the mom “Yea they can wait in the lobby” like I assume she didn’t give an age or anything cause no office worker is going to knowingly allow this to happen, or allow a 1 and 2 year old to just sit in the lobby.
  
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markovs_gun@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Unfortunately this is a pretty common occurrence. There was a big furor about it about a decade ago with a social media fad called the “hot car challenge” where adults would sit in hot cars turned off in the sun to see how long they could last in them ostensibly to build awareness of the problem, and there were all sorts of helpful tips and design changes made to cars and phones to try to make it more difficult to forget your kids in hot cars. Myself I wonder if any of it had any actual impact because surely the sort of people who leave their kids in hot cars aren’t the smartest and probably don’t keep up with safety PSAs about the issue.

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- EnsignWashout@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The left shoe trick - throwing my shoe in the car next to the kid - probably saved my kid’s life more than once.
  
  The kind of parents who have these tragedies are tired ones. Which is most parents with small children.
  
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  - victorz@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I’ve been fucking tired as all hell, but a) I would not be driving a car with my child in it if I was so tired that I would forget I had a child. The fuck? That’s it. There’s no b). I would also fall asleep before I would forget I had a child. I cannot believe people really need a “trick” to help them remember they have a child. I just cannot relate.
    
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  - Trainguyrom@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    As a parent myself it always boggles my mind that people can forget that they have kids in the car with them. I’m always in dad mode when I have any kids with me, so I’ve never even come close to forgetting a kid in the car. Forgetting to grab the kid’s backpack for school sure, but forgetting a whole child in the car?
    
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- ayyy@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Plenty of smart parents fuck up while sleep deprived. That’s what made it such a popular tragedy to make PSAs about.
  
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  - ryathal@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    After having kids I totally understand how it can happen by mistake.
    
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dbtng@eviltoast.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Is this mildly infuriating? No. This is a joke comm, not a group cry.

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- Gaja0@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  grrr, im so mildly infuriated rn
  
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Raiderkev@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Me reading this article:

Huh, California?

Oh, Bakersfield. Say no more

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- zaphodb2002@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah, I had to do some work up there recently and it was so depressing.
  
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hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Almost anyone can have children, but not everyone can be a parent.

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Outwit1294@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Getting lip fillers…the kind of people who should not have children

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- Dupree878@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Those are the kind of women who have multiple kids from multiple fathers
  
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  - Muaddib@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    That is not the problem with this situation.
    
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samus12345@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Image

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BilboBargains@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
It’s amazing how lethal cars are and we drive them every day without a care in the world. I never think about the particulate pollution spewing from my brakes or the noxious gases emitted from the exhaust. I don’t consider the pedestrians I will eventually hit if I drive long enough. I never think about anyone dying in my car from heatstroke. I think of my vehicle as the best and only solution to all of my transportation needs because every problem looks like a nail when your only tool is a hammer.

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- GreenKnight23@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  go back to fuckcars. the rest of the world has shit to do.
  
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  - SparrowHawk@feddit.it ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You can’t do shit with public transport?
    
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HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Bakersfield is a conservative shit show

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Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
its 101 degrees outside the car, but inside it can reach as much as 130-140f.

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SabinStargem@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Setting aside the ethics and children for a bit, I am disturbed by the idea of leaving a car running on a battery for an hour or longer. That is a good way to run down the battery and needing a AAA towing. Alternatively, leaving the engine on would use up gas. Plus, just general wear and tear on the vehicle.

Cars are expensive enough as it is.

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- poopkins@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Coming in as a close second after the death of one child and the endangerment of the other: wearing down the car battery.
  
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Tudsamfa@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
This, too, is c/fuckcars.

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ayyy@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Of course it was Bakersfield.

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pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Fuck

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sheogorath@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Reading news like this always breaks my heart because I can’t imagine the kid’s suffering before they died. Hugging my little ones a little tighter today 😓

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KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Nature is healing. We don’t need every brain dead genetic abomination reproducing to make more brain dead abominations. Let Darwinism take its course. That’s what trumps mom should’ve done with captain bonespurs.

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- funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I have bad news for you about how much nature cares about being smart or a good parent
  
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- deathgrindfreak@awful.systems ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  No child deserves to die that way. What a horrible take.
  
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  - KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Idk man baby Hitler totally deserved to go out that way imo. Mussolini, Netanyahu, and Stalin too while we’re at it. Not every baby is destined for greatness.
    
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Hux@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is being held in a hot car with no AC in lieu of $1,080,000 bail, according to the Kern County district attorney’s office.

FTFY

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blinfabian@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
it must be on purpose at this point. how many times does this need to happen before people stop doing it?

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princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

Now the 20-year-old mother has been charged with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and two felony counts of willful cruelty to a child, according to court records.

Is it not a specific crime in California/US to leave a child locked in a car?? We don’t fluff around with that in Australia. Also have exceptions to property damage laws for bystanders breaking windows.

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SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I can barely handle being in a car that has been sitting in the sun for the 5 minutes it takes for the AC to get up to speed.

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possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Lol

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FirstCircle@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Update: turnto23.com/…/witness-attorney-speak-out-followi…

The approach the defense attorney seems to be taking is interesting. Seems to be leaning heavily on a “she’s just a kid, doesn’t have an adult brain yet” assertion.

Ian Bleu, who was inside the spa with his dog and a friend at the time of the incident, said Hernandez mentioned having children but never disclosed they were in the vehicle outside. Bleu described a calm atmosphere inside the business until an employee discovered one of the children in distress.

“The kid, it was like, sweating — red, purple — like, it was real bad,” Bleu said. “And then Maya walked in with the other kid and he was just, like, limp.”

Bleu told police and emergency responders that he had walked his dog near Maya’s vehicle and saw no signs that the air conditioning was running or that the windows were down, contradicting statements Hernandez reportedly made to authorities.

He also said she appeared emotionally detached as emergency crews attempted to revive the children. “She didn’t even look like she cared,” Bleu said. “We were about to cry, and the cops thought we were the parents.”

Hernandez’s defense attorney Teryl D. Wakeman urged the public not to rush to judgment, emphasizing that her client is only 20 and that the legal process is still in its early stages.

“She’s barely 20. And a charge is not a fact — it’s a charge,” the attorney said. “You would want someone to look into all the aspects of the case — medical, mental health, background — before deciding.”

Wakeman also suggested the case reflects a broader issue with how young adults are treated in the justice system, arguing that brain development continues into a person’s mid-20s.

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