Texas mom who locked kids inside hot car to die indicted, could face life in prison

Texas mom Cynthia Marie Randolph, 25, was indicted by a Parker County Grand Jury after being accused of killing her two-year-old daughter and 16-month-old son by locking them in a hot car to “teach them a lesson,” according to MSN.  Randolph was charged with two first-degree felonies of causing serious bodily injury to a child. If found guilty of those charges, she could be sentenced to life behind bars.

Randolph was arrested after police in Weatherford, Texas, said she left her two-year-old daughter, Juliet Ramirez and 16-month-old son, Cavanaugh Ramirez, locked up inside a hot car on May 26.  Both of the children died in that car due to heat exposure. An August autopsy report listed both of the hot car child deaths as homicides, according to CBS News.  A police report shared by CNN stated that Randolph locked her kids in the car to “teach her daughter a lesson.”

According to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office police report, on May 26 around 12:15 pm, Randolph discovered her two children playing in her car.  When she told them to get out of the vehicle, her daughter refused to do so. The mother then shut the car door “to teach her daughter a ‘lesson,’ thinking ‘she could get herself and her brother out of car when ready,’” according to the police report.

“Randolph then went inside and smoked marijuana before falling asleep for two or three hours. She also told authorities that she broke the car window to make the deaths look like an accident, the release said.”  ~ per CNN

That same police report stated that Randolph changed the story several times about how her children came to be trapped inside that locked car. In one version of stories she told police, Randolph said the kids were playing on the back porch. When she later noticed that the children were missing, she searched for them for about 30 – 40 minutes before discovering them locked up inside her car.  According to CNN: “The sheriff’s office was alerted to the incident around 4 p.m., when temperatures outside had reached 96 degrees. The children, identified by the Tarrant County medical examiner as Juliet and Cavanaugh Ramirez, were pronounced dead half an hour later.”

Written by: Ace News Today Staff