Parents arrested after child suffers ‘torturous’ death in hot car, both test positive for drugs and alcohol

An 18-month-old little girl literally baked to death in a car after reportedly being left for hours in the vehicle following her parents attending a Fourth of July party where they drank and did drugs that ultimately led to the “torturous” death of the child through negligence.

The parents, Joel and Jazmine Rondon, both 33, are being charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, a first-degree felony, according to Fox 13.

More than 17 hours after the party ended and the child died, both parents still tested positive for marijuana and alcohol. The father also tested positive for methamphetamine the sheriff’s department noted.

“So you can imagine what kind of shape they were in when they left this child harnessed in a baby seat in the back of the car,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd stated in a press conference Thursday, showing pronounced disgust and anger over the tragedy.

(Video Credit: FOX 13 Tampa Bay)

Judd remarked that the parents returned home with their 8-year-old, 6-year-old, and 18-month-old following the party in Lakeland, Florida. They got home at about 3 am on July 5. The two older children were put to bed by their mother as she asked the father to get the 18-month-old.

ADVERTISEMENT

Joel Rondon noticed that the car door was left open as he took food inside. He came out and the door was allegedly closed. The father reportedly just assumed his wife had taken the toddler inside. Tragically, that was not the case, and the little one was left in the car overnight.

The parents didn’t realize until late the next morning at about 11 am that the child was not inside the house. They reportedly ran to the car where she was still strapped into her car seat having horrifically died from heat exposure in the vehicle.

Three hours after she was found, the child still had a 104-degree core temperature after being removed from the car. That was even after the hospital attempted to cool the baby down, according to Judd.

Source: Screengrab Fox 13

“He goes to the car and there is the baby still strapped in the child carrier in the car with a heat index of 105 degrees on that day,” Judd stated. “He grabbed the child carrier and the infant from the car, runs inside screaming for Jazmine. Jazmine, who as reported, has some medical training, looks at the baby and says I know the baby is deceased.”

The parents rushed the child to the hospital anyway but it was too late.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Upon arrival there, even though it is painfully evident that this child has suffered a torturous death, an absolute torturous death,” Judd recounted. “Lakeland Regional still worked on the baby to try to save its life, but it was, in fact, deceased.”

“This child is 18 months old. She’s not old enough to let herself out of the harness, but she’s certainly old enough to realize that she is suffering a torturous death at the negligence of Joel and Jazmine,” Judd asserted.

According to the sheriff, the father has a criminal history dating back to when he was a teenager. He was arrested twice when he was 15 and 18 in connection to a shooting and was a known gang member. He also has pending charges for methamphetamine and carrying a concealed firearm, as well as a history of resisting arrest.

“This rips your heart out. There’s no other way to explain it,” Judd continued. “This was not an accident. This is pure negligence and I suggest to you that the core of this negligence is the abuse of drugs and who died? The 18-month-old baby. So don’t ever tell me that these drugs are low-level and non-violent because they’re at the core of why this child is dead.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“I think the real remorse will be tonight when they’re sitting in the county jail in an air-conditioned environment by themselves, thinking it’s nice and cool in here and my baby baked to death because of my negligence and my use of drugs. They will and have to be held accountable,” Sheriff Judd declared.

The two other children are staying with relatives, according to the New York Post.

Get the latest BPR news delivered free to your inbox daily. SIGN UP HERE

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles