Mum 'stopped at McDonald's' on way to take dying son to hospital

A mother has been exposed for stopping at McDonalds while driving her dying son to the hospital.

Vanessa Esquivel, 27, stands accused of "intentionally" leaving her 15-month-old baby inside aroasting 35C carfor two hours while she was working.

At the start of her work day at 2pm on August 16, sheleft the child in the vehicleoutside her Dallas workplace until around 5.30pm. She then started out on her trip to Medical City Plana Hospital.

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When she arrived at the hospital, she told medics he had fallen ill but was told her child had already passed away. Four days later, she was detained by Frisco Police officers and charged with murder.

Her arrest affidavit details how the mother stopped at McDonalds while her son lay dying in the car. She's being held at the Collin County Jail on a $250,000 bond and faces a first-degree murder charge. If she is found guilty, she could be sentenced to life in prison.

A spokesperson from Frisco Police said: "Police officers and detectives with the Frisco Police Department responded to Medical City Plano and upon investigation, they learned that earlier on August 16, the child’s mother, 27-year-old Vanessa Esquivel of Dallas, had arrived at her work in the 3200 block of Preston Road at approximately 2:00 p.m.

"At that time, detectives believe Esquivel intentionally left her 15-month-old child for over two hours in a vehicle she knew did not have working air conditioning with an outside temperature of at least 95 degrees."

"Based on information gathered during the investigation, Frisco Detectives believed probable cause existed that Esquivel had committed Murder, as her intentionally leaving the child in the car caused injury/endangered the child, which is a felony. Because it resulted in the child's death, her actions met the statutory requirements of Murder."

Health officials in the US and the UK have long warned that leaving a child in a hot car is extremely dangerous and can be deadly, even on a mild or cloudy day.

The interior of a car can heat up extremely fast - reaching life-threatening temperatures even when temperatures are cool - and pose a specific health risk to children, as their bodies heat up three to five times faster than adults. Exposure to these hot temperatures can lead to heatstroke, organ damage, or death.

Each year, approximately 38 to 40 children die in the US die from heatstroke after being left in hot vehicles.