Coronavirus Disinfecting Services : Toddler dies after being left in car while mom tended to marijuana plants: police

Saturday 5 June 2021

Toddler dies after being left in car while mom tended to marijuana plants: police

VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) — A 3-year-old girl is dead and her mother has been arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter after investigators in California say she left the child in a hot car while she tended to a marijuana grow.

Police in Visalia responded to the call of a child who was not breathing after being left in a parked vehicle for an extended period of time, according to investigators.

Police detectives say they believe the child, now identified as Jessica Campos, was left in the vehicle for up to three hours before anyone discovered her. Investigators say the outdoor temperature was at least 100 degrees at the time.

An officer who was on an unrelated call nearby responded to the scene and took over CPR from family members who were trying to revive the child.

When fire and ambulance personnel arrived they took over the efforts and the child was transported to an area hospital where she was pronounced dead, investigators say.

Photos provided by the Visalia Police Department
Photos provided by the Visalia Police Department
Photos provided by the Visalia Police Department
Photos provided by the Visalia Police Department
Photos provided by the Visalia Police Department
Photos provided by the Visalia Police Department
Photos provided by the Visalia Police Department

According to investigators, Jessica's mother had been tending to a marijuana grow and processing marijuana during the time the child was left inside the vehicle.

Five people have now been arrested including Jessica's mother Eustajia Dominguez Mojica, 28, and four other adults found in the residence at the time: Araceli Mojica, 33; Emmanuel Ortiz-Aguilar, 34; Valentin Aguilar Ortiz, 27; and Victor Flores Corona, 41.

Mojica, Ortiz-Aguilar, Ortiz, and Corona were booked for charges of child endangerment.