Mom Who Left Toddler in Hot Car and Stopped at McDonald’s Before ER Gets 25 Years in Prison

A Texas mother will spend the next 25 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of murder in the death of her 15-month-old son, who was left inside a parked vehicle during triple-digit heat.

Vanessa Esquivel was working at a Frisco spa on August 16, 2025, when temperatures outside exceeded 95 degrees, according to City of Frisco arrest records. The records revealed that she left her toddler unattended in the car without air conditioning while she worked.

By the time Esquivel brought the toddler to the emergency room, according to a report published by FOX 4 News, his core body temperature had reached 106 degrees. The outlet also reported that Esquivel stopped for food at a McDonald’s before arriving at the hospital.

Esquivel initially told investigators she had spent the day driving her son around because her car’s air conditioning was broken, and that she had not gone to work that day. She was arrested the following day after a recorded call to a coworker on the spa’s phone line, in which she admitted leaving her son in the vehicle while she served two clients, according to the affidavit.

According to CBS News, during that September 2024 call, Esquivel told her coworker she had been “between a rock and a hard place” after failing to find childcare. She also revealed on the call that her son had died, saying “the incident was her fault”.

As per the Dallas News, a Collin County jury convicted her of murder and handed down the 25-year sentence on Friday, June 19.