A five-year-old boy in the United States died on Wednesday after his foster mother left him in a hot car for seven hours in extreme heat, as per the police officials. The boy was trapped in 89-degree Fahrenheit (31-degree Celsius) heat, making it the 10th hot car incident in the country, according to a report in the New York Post.
Juanita Pinon, aged 40, is accused of abandoning her foster son Dionicio Perez inside a burning SUV in a parking lot outside the beauty salon where she is employed in Omaha, Nebraska, resulting in a tragic incident. Ms Pinon, who has a criminal history that dates back to 2016, according to the prosecution, parked her car and then left for work. However, it remains unclear whether Perez's death was a result of an accident or deliberate action.
Dionicio was declared dead at a nearby hospital when his body temperature rose to 105 degrees. The woman, who reportedly cares for five more children, was detained and charged with child abuse by negligence, which resulted in death. Notably, she could spend up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.
The local NBC affiliate reported that her bond was set at $2 million. Pinon had already been convicted of theft by deception in 2016 after defrauding non-English speaking renters out of $12,000. According to the report, the state government officials told the boy's biological father, Pablo Lopez, and stepmother, Jenny, that their son was in capable hands despite their pursuit of custody.
The five-year-old's twin sister, who turned five in June, is also under Lopez's custody, according to a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for a lawyer and to get "his sister safely home." "The twins were placed in foster care, despite their dad and step mom's efforts to bring the twins home. Their financial situation greatly limited them. The person who was supposed to care for him in foster care, had a criminal history," the GoFundMe page said.
"Dionicio's young life was cut short is the most horrendous way. The world lost such a bright, beautiful, young life far too soon," it added.
