Police arrested the Texas mother of a 15-month-old baby who died after being left in the back seat of a hot SUV on Wednesday afternoon.
Concepcion Rodriguez, 26, is charged with injury to a child after officers say she left the baby in the vehicle for nearly three hours after returning from a trip to a store in Corpus Christi, according to a statement from local police.
Neighbors say the child's name was Benny Jr.
Cornelio Reyna, a family friend, said, "He was a very happy little kid. He was always around with mommy and daddy and they always played around with him and stuff."
Police say the mother returned from the store at 1 p.m. local time with her own children and others in her care. In total there were seven children in the SUV aged between three and seven.
Detectives say when the father got home just before 4 p.m. he asked about the child – and that when the parents realized he was still in the SUV.
Temperatures reached nearly 100 degrees outside, so inside the vehicle it was much hotter.
"I don't know how something like this could've happened, I really don't know," Reyna added.
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