A 3-year-old girl in California died after her mother allegedly locked them both inside a car during a 104-degree heat wave on September 6, around 4 p.m.
When officials arrived, they found the child, Ily Elizabeth Ruiz, and her mother, 41-year-old Sandra Hernandez, unconscious in the car. A family member pulled Ily out and performed CPR until first responders arrived.
Both Ily and Hernandez were taken to a hospital, where Ily was pronounced dead. Hernandez was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony child neglect.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover Ily’s funeral expenses.
Ily was remembered as a beautiful, loving, and bubbly child. Nancy Salamanca, the GoFundMe organizer, expressed the family’s grief, saying, “It’s still hard to wrap our minds around the thought that Ily is no longer with us.”
At this time, authorities do not know how long they were in the car and do not believe it was an attempt at murder-suicide. The investigation is still ongoing.