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Infant dies in hot car, mom stops for fast food
An arrest affidavit provides a timeline into what investigators believe happened the day a 15-month-old boy died in a hot car in Frisco.
FRISCO, Texas - A Dallas woman has been arrested on a murder charge following the death of her 15-month-old son, according to an arrest warrant affidavit released by the Frisco Police Department.
Vanessa Esquivel
Frisco Hot Car Death
Vanessa Esquivel, 27, was taken into custody after an investigation revealed she left her son in a vehicle while she worked a shift at a massage and facial spa in Frisco. The child's death was ruled consistent with prolonged heat exposure, according to the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office.
The backstory:
It happened on August 16. Police say Esquivel brought her unresponsive son to the emergency room at Medical City-Plano. Medical staff told officers the child had a core temperature of more than 106 degrees and was believed to be dead before arriving at the hospital.
The arrest affidavit states investigators believe she stopped at McDonald's in north Dallas and ordered food before taking him to the hospital.
The child's name has not been released.
Dallas mom intentionally left toddler in hot car, police say
A 27-year-old woman from Dallas is facing a murder charge after Frisco police said she intentionally left her 15-month-old child in a hot vehicle.
Conflicting Information
Esquivel initially told officers she had been driving the child around in a hot vehicle because the air conditioning was not working. She denied going to work that day and claimed she had been with her son all day.
However, investigators with the Frisco Police Department, working with Plano police, contacted the Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa where Esquivel was employed. They learned she had worked a shift from approximately 1:45 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Recorded Confession
The arrest warrant affidavit states that in a recorded phone call to a coworker on August 17, Esquivel admitted she left her son in her vehicle with the air conditioning running the previous day while she served two clients because she was "between a rock and a hard place" because she was unable to find childcare. She told the employee her son had died. She is quoted as saying, "the incident was her fault" and that she believed she would be arrested.
According to the affidavit, the calls to the spa are automatically recorded. She told the employee to not leak her phone call.
Weather data confirmed temperatures in Frisco reached up to 95 degrees on the day of the incident.
Esquivel was booked into the Collin County Jail. Her bond has been set at $250,000.
The Source: Information in this article is from the arrest affidavit for Vanessa Esquivel from Collin County.