SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Antonio Almaraz, a 31-year-old Texas sheriff's deputy, was fired and arrested after locking his two-month-old daughter in his car for three hours. The incident took place on Monday, September 18, when the temperature had soared to over 90F.
Almaraz is currently facing a slew of charges, including injury to child, abandoning a child with intent to return, and endangering a child, according to the statement released by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office.
What are the allegations against Antonio Almarez?
The investigating officers stated that Almaraz had taken his daughter to a routine appointment at the pediatrics at 9 am on the day of the incident.
On returning after an hour, he went back home on his own, leaving his baby inside the vehicle in the soaring heat.
The infant was found unresponsive after three hours. An ambulance arrived at Almaraz's home at 1.07 pm. The two-month-old was rushed to the Methodist Hospital where she stays in critical condition.
The hospital called the sheriff's office to report the incident at around 2:00 pm. On being questioned, Almaraz provided conflicting narratives of the incident and was soon arrested.
What happened to Almaraz?
Antonio Almaraz was given an order of dismissal from the sheriff's office. He had joined on February 20 and was still in his probationary period.
Upon being arrested, Almaraz's bail has been set at $80,000. He will not be able to appeal his dismissal or seek re-employment irrespective of the outcome of this case, the sheriff's office has confirmed.
"Given the amount of awareness in the community regarding leaving children unattended in vehicles, there is absolutely no valid excuse for this to have occurred," Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar expressed in a statement. "My family and I are praying for the best possible outcome for this precious baby."
The dangers of being locked inside a car
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, hot car deaths are the leading cause of non-crash-related vehicle fatalities among children in the country. The temperature inside a vehicle can jump twenty degrees in ten minutes.
When the baby was found, the inside temperature of the car could have reached as high as 137F, as per a temperature calculator. Since the body temperature of a child rises three to five times faster than an adult, it can lead to heat stroke and death.
More than 950 children are believed to have died from hot car deaths over the last 25 years, according to NHTSA. 53% of hot car deaths happen because of someone forgetting a child inside a vehicle. In 2022, a total of 33 such deaths have been reported.
