A 2-year-old girl died in Midland after being left inside a hot car for several hours Sunday, and her father now faces a capital murder charge.
Midland police responded around 7:56 p.m. Sunday to the 100 block of East Pecan Avenue on a report of an unresponsive child locked in a vehicle. Officers found that family members had already broken a window of a black Kia to remove the toddler and take her to Midland Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
According to police, relatives had gone to the home to check on Lorenzo Rodriguez, 25, and his daughter after learning he had been drinking the previous night. When no one answered repeated knocks, they removed a window air-conditioning unit, entered the house and found Rodriguez asleep. He told them he had been sleeping since about 11 a.m.
The child was not inside the residence. Family members then located her in the non-running vehicle outside. Temperatures in Midland reached the upper 90s that day.
Police said the investigation developed probable cause to charge Rodriguez with capital murder of a person under 10 years old. He is being held on a $1.5 million bond.
The case marks Texas’ first pediatric hot-car death of 2026. Nationally, at least 15 children have died this year from heatstroke after being left or trapped in vehicles, according to the National Safety Council.
Officials continue to urge caregivers never to leave children unattended in cars, noting that interior temperatures can rise more than 20 degrees in the first 10 minutes and quickly become deadly.
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