Texas – In a deeply tragic case out of Texas, a 26-year-old mother, identified as A. Rivera, is facing serious felony charges after her 1-year-old son was found dead in the back of a parked car. The boy had been left alone in the vehicle for nearly half an hour when he was discovered unresponsive, with a car seat strap wrapped tightly around his neck. The mother has been charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury or death, a second-degree felony under Texas law. The charge followed the results of an investigation and an autopsy confirming that the toddler died by strangulation.
Authorities say the incident occurred on the evening of October 31 in a rural area close to the U.S.–Mexico border. According to a statement released by the sheriff’s office, deputies responded just before 9 p.m. to a 911 call reporting an unresponsive infant. When law enforcement officers arrived at the scene, they found the baby boy inside a vehicle, not breathing and still secured in his car seat. The seat had tipped forward behind the driver’s seat, and a strap had become wrapped around the child’s neck. Paramedics rushed the infant to a nearby hospital, but doctors were unable to save him. He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Rivera later told investigators she had arrived at the location with her four children but left the 1-year-old in the vehicle because he had fallen asleep. She took the other children inside and left the toddler alone in the car, according to her statement. A witness alerted authorities 30 minutes later after the mother found him unresponsive with the car seat strap wrapped around his neck. On November 3, just a few days after the incident, the medical examiner officially ruled the cause of death as strangulation.
Following the autopsy and further investigation, Rivera was arrested and charged. She was booked into the county jail on Tuesday, and a judge later set her bond at $750,000. Jail records indicate that Rivera remains in custody. Authorities have not released specific details about what Rivera and the children were doing at the residence that night. The sheriff’s office emphasized that the case is still under active investigation. Officials have urged anyone with additional information to contact the department directly or call the Crime Stoppers hotline.
No further information has been released regarding the identity of the deceased child beyond confirmation that he was just one year old. The Sheriff’s Office initially did not disclose the child’s gender but later confirmed the victim was a boy. This heartbreaking case serves as a stark reminder of the dangers associated with leaving young children unattended in vehicles—even for brief periods. While the full circumstances are still being pieced together, the consequences have already proven fatal, leaving a mother facing years behind bars and a family forever changed.
