A Texas mother is back behind bars following the death of her 1-year-old child, who authorities say was strangled after being left alone inside a parked car on Halloween night. The case has drawn renewed attention after prosecutors added new charges months after the child’s death.
Ashley Jasmin Rivera, 26, is now facing multiple felony charges in connection with the incident. Jail records show Rivera is charged with criminally negligent homicide and abandoning a child while causing imminent danger of bodily injury.
She was previously charged with injury to a child causing death. According to KGBT, the newer charges were filed in December, and Rivera was booked into the Hidalgo County Jail on Wednesday. As of Monday afternoon, she remained in custody on a $60,000 bond.
The tragic incident occurred on October 31 in rural Weslaco, Texas. According to a press release from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call shortly before 9 p.m. reporting an unresponsive infant at a home in the 8100 block of North FM 88, an area near the U.S.-Mexico border.
When deputies arrived, they found the 1-year-old child not breathing. Paramedics rushed the infant to a nearby hospital, but doctors were unable to save the child and pronounced them dead shortly after arrival.
“The child’s car seat was found tipped forward behind the driver’s seat, with the car seat strap around the child’s neck,” authorities said in the release.
Investigators say Rivera told law enforcement that she arrived at the location with her four children that evening. She allegedly explained that the 1-year-old was asleep in the car, so she left the child strapped into the car seat while she and her other three children went inside the residence. According to officials, the child was left alone in the vehicle for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.
During that time, a witness reportedly went outside to check the car and discovered the infant unresponsive. Emergency services were contacted immediately, but it was already too late.
An autopsy conducted several days later determined that the cause of death was strangulation, consistent with the position of the car seat strap found around the child’s neck. Authorities have not released further details on how the car seat became tipped forward or whether it was properly secured.
Law enforcement has also not disclosed where Rivera and the other children were going when the infant was left behind, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation. Officials have confirmed that the case remains active as detectives continue reviewing evidence and witness statements.
Rivera’s arrest has sparked renewed discussion about child safety, particularly the dangers of leaving young children unattended in vehicles, even for short periods of time. For now, Rivera remains in custody as the legal process moves forward and prosecutors determine how to proceed with the case.
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