WEATHERFORD, Texas (AP/CBS Newspath) – Authorities say a Texas woman told investigators that she left her 2-year-old daughter and 16-month-old son in the hot car where they died last month to teach the girl a lesson, and that they didn’t lock themselves in, as she initially said.
Cynthia Marie Randolph, 24, was jailed Friday on two counts of causing serious bodily harm to a child.
The children were identified as 1-year old Cavanaugh Ramirez, and 2-year old Juliet Ramirez.
Parker County sheriff’s officials say she told investigators Friday that she found the kids playing in the car May 26 and then closed the door and left them inside when the 2-year-old refused to come out.
She acknowledged going back into the home west of Fort Worth, smoking marijuana and then napping for two or three hours.
Randolph told investigators she later broke the car window to make it look like an accident, officials said.
Randolph initially reported the children entered the vehicle on their own and had locked themselves inside, authorities said. After she found both children unresponsive, Randolph initially claimed she broke a window of the vehicle to gain entry in an attempt to save the children, according to Texas investigators.
Temperatures reached the mid-90s that day.
