A jury Tuesday found two former day care workers in New Mexico guilty of leaving two toddlers in a hot car in July 2017, causing one child to die and another to suffer brain damage, KOB reported.
Mary Taylor, 64, and Sandi Taylor, 33, were convicted by a Roosevelt County jury in the Ninth Judicial Court, on one count each of child abuse resulting in death and one count each of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm, KFDA reported. Each woman faces up to 18 years in prison, the television station reported.
On July 25, 2017, the mother-daughter day care workers left 22-month old Maliyah Jones and Aubrianna Loya, now 3, in a car when the outside temperatures exceeded 90 degrees, KVII reported. The day care reportedly took multiple children to a park earlier in the day, KOB reported, and left the two children inside the car at the day care center.
Maliyah was pronounced dead at an area hospital, and Aubrianna faced critical injuries and was transferred to Lubbock, Texas, KVII reported.
Ninth Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb told KVII that evidence presented during the trial showed that Taylor Tots Day Care did not follow proper rules and procedures, including failing to do headcounts, driving the children without permission and failing to have proper care giver to child ratio.
Defense attorneys for the Taylors argued that the women did not intentionally leave the children in the car, saying it was an accident, KOB reported.
"It all could have been prevented. That's what hurts us the most," Victoria Salas,, Maliyah’s great-aunt, told the television station.
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