Tot Girl Found in Hot Car with Mom and Alcohol Bottles—Family Hit by Second Tragedy After Brothers Killed by Drunk Driver

The father of a California toddler who died in a hot car last week had already lost two sons to a drunk driver.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, police received a call about a medical emergency in Anaheim just before 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The toddler, identified as Ily Ruiz, was rushed to a hospital, where she died.

Her mother, Sandra Hernandez, 41, was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and child neglect after her release from the hospital, according to Anaheim police Sgt. Matt Sutter, ABC 7 reports.

Police said Hernandez and her daughter had been inside a Ford Expedition for an unknown period. A family member discovered them locked in the vehicle.

A woman who said she was Hernandez’s great-aunt told NBC4 that Hernandez had locked herself and her daughter inside the car.

Sgt. Sutter added that several alcohol bottles were found in the car.

DailyMail reports that the child’s father, Juan Ruiz, previously lost two sons, ages 5 and 9, when a drunk driver crashed into their tent during a family camping trip in North Dakota.

The current relationship between Ruiz and Hernandez is unclear.

“Ily was his princess, his daughter. He loves his kids; they are his world,” his cousin, Nancy Salamarca, said.

While the autopsy report hasn’t been released, police reportedly said Ily died from heat stroke complications. Temperatures had reached 104 degrees that day.

Meanwhile, Salamarca created a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover funeral and memorial expenses for the child.