A 41-year-old woman who was found in a locked vehicle during the heat wave in Anaheim with her 3-year-old daughter, who died, was charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter.
Sandra Hernandez Cazares of Anaheim was also charged with a felony count of child abuse and endangerment with a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury on a child younger than 5, according to court records.
The victim was identified as 3-year-old Ily Ruiz of Anaheim, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
Hernandez Cazares did not enter a plea Tuesday at her arraignment in the jail courtroom. Her arraignment was rescheduled for Oct. 1 in the North Justice Center in Fullerton.
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Anaheim officers were dispatched to the 1300 block of North Fashion Lane about 4:20 p.m. Friday regarding the emergency, according to Anaheim police Sgt. Matt Sutter.
Hernandez Cazares and her daughter had been inside a Ford Expedition for an unknown amount of time, Sutter said. A family member who found them locked in while temperatures were about 104 degrees had to smash a window to rescue the girl, according to Sutter. It would have been a great deal hotter in the vehicle, Sutter added.
Police found multiple empty alcohol bottles in the vehicle, Sutter said.
According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, the woman's two sons -- ages 5 and 9 -- were killed by a drunken driver in a South Dakota campground while she was on a family vacation in 2012. After that, she and her husband had advocated for stricter DUI laws in the state, prosecutors said.
Juan Ruiz, the victim's father, said he nearly died in the collision in South Dakota.
"Had it not been for the helicopter, I wouldn't be going through all this right now," Ruiz told City News Service.
Ruiz and Cazares were never married, but had four children together, he said.
"She never wanted to marry me," he said. "I asked her twice and both times she said no. We were together off and on, and she's the mother of my kids."
Their 5-year-old son was named Lazarus, a biblical inspiration after the deadly collision at the campground, Ruiz said.
"I'm living Job's life now," he said. "My heart is so full of rage right now."
Ruiz said he was going to court Wednesday to discuss gaining custody of his son, who is being cared for by the suspect's sister now. Ruiz said he has not yet gone to visit his son because he was concerned the boy would want to leave with him before everything was settled in court.
"He's going to want to come with me, and I'm going to want to take him," he said. "And he'll know I'm hurting. I can't go see him and then just let him go. So, I'm waiting for tomorrow to see what happens, and then I'll go see my son."
Ruiz said his daughter "loved to help me prep when I would cook."
"My Ily was my princess," he said. "She loved Princess Elsa from `Frozen.' She loved to color. She loved her coloring books."
The suspect "is fighting demons. But she's not a bad mom. I don't think she was ever able to come out of the grief. And I'm certain she suffered from post-partum depression after giving birth to my baby girl. She's not a bad mom. Yeah, she made some irresponsible choices ... that ultimately led to the death of my daughter, but she would never do it on purpose."
About a year ago, Cazares decided to move from their home in Texas to California, and he urged her family to keep a close eye on her.
He appreciated a Go Fund Me fundraising effort that has raised over $10,000 for him to help care for the 5-year-old.
"I'm going to need help," he said. "I'm not going to be able to work full-time. My son is definitely going to need me there. This is not going to be easy for me, my son or any of us."
Family members of Hernandez Cazares began looking for her when they were informed no one picked up the woman's 5-year-old son from school that day, prosecutors said. Doctors reported that Ily had to have been dead for several hours when she was found with her unconscious mother in the vehicle, according to prosecutors.
The woman's blood-alcohol level was .30, nearly four times the legal limit for driving, prosecutors alleged.
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