Orange County mom charged in daughter's death lost two boys to drunk driving 12 years earlier

An Orange County woman who was arrested Friday in the death of her 3-year-old daughter, found unconscious and locked inside a sweltering car in Anaheim, had endured the death of two other children at the hands of a drunk driver years earlier.

Sandra Hernandez-Cazares has been arrested and charged in the death of her daughter, Ily Ruiz, who was found locked in the family car with Hernandez-Cazares on the 1300 block of Fashion Lane on Friday, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.

Twelve years earlier, Hernandez-Cazares and husband Juan Ruiz lost two sons, 5-year-old Alaries Ruiz and 9-year-old Cyris Ruiz, who were killed by a drunk driver who ran over their tent at a South Dakota campground while they were on a family vacation.

Ruiz’s sons had arrived from El Paso to visit their father, who worked nearby in the oil industry.

After their deaths, Hernandez-Casarez and Ruiz advocated for harsher penalties for drunk driving, according to Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer.

“A mother who was robbed of the chance to see two of her sons grow up because of the selfish decision of a stranger will have to live with the fact she will never get to see her little girl grow up because of the choices she made,” Spitzer said in a statement.

Hernandez-Casarez was charged Monday with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of child abuse causing great bodily harm. She could face 12 years in prison if convicted of all charges. Her bail is $150,000 and she’s currently being held in a Santa Ana holding facility.

A representative for Hernandez-Casarez was not available.

Concerned family members first suspected something was wrong Friday when staffers from the elementary school that the couple’s 5-year-old son attended said no one arrived to pick up the child, according to the district attorney’s office.

A family member eventually called 911 after finding Hernandez-Casarez and Ily passed out inside a white Ford Expedition parked in front of the family’s Anaheim apartment, according to the district attorney’s office.

Temperatures that day were 104 degree outside the vehicle. Temperatures inside a car on a hot day could be 20 to 40 degrees higher than the outside temperature within minutes, according to the National Weather Service.

Officers attempted CPR on Ily before she and her mother were rushed to a hospital. Ily was pronounced dead at the medical facility.

Anaheim police said the girl appeared to have died from complications of heatstroke. An official autopsy is still pending.

Police also discovered several empty bottles of alcohol inside the SUV, authorities said.

A family member posted a GoFundMe for funeral expenses that surpassed $10,000 as of Tuesday.

The post said Ruiz was in the process of moving to California from Texas to look after the family's 5-year-old son.

Detectives interviewed and arrested Hernandez-Casarez after she was medically cleared.

“The unimaginable pain of having your 5-year-old and 9-year-old sons killed by a drunk driver is something from which you can never recover,” Spitzer said. “Anyone who has suffered such a devastating tragedy knows the ripple effects of grief may be able to be hidden, but the heartbreak of losing your children will never go away."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .