Houston mother faces murder charge a year after 2-month-old baby dies in hot car
08/07/2024 1:53 pm PDT
HOUSTON (TCN) -- A mother has been arrested nearly a year after allegedly leaving her 2-month-old son unattended in a hot car for several hours.
According to an initial press conference from Houston Assistant Chief of Police Yasar Bashir, on Aug. 8, 2023, police received a call from firefighters regarding an unresponsive child on Long Drive. First responders attempted lifesaving measures, but the child, later identified by police as Ethan Rosa Deras, was transported to a hospital and pronounced deceased.
According to KHOU-TV, authorities allege the baby had been left in the car for around three hours, and his body temperature reached 108 degrees. An autopsy ruled the boy’s death a homicide, and police contacted the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to assist in the case.
Prosecutors allege the child’s mother, 22-year-old Gabriela Elyzabeth Deras, left her son in the car as she took another child into a health facility. During an interview, Deras reportedly changed her statement multiple times. According to KHOU, she originally said the infant was with his grandmother and she kept the air conditioner on.
Houston reportedly reached triple-digit temperatures on the day of the baby’s death.
On Aug. 2, police arrested Deras on a charge of murder.
Prosecutor Edward Applebaum reportedly said, "Before we even charge a case, we want to be thorough. We want to make sure we have the facts and law on our side, but it also takes a long time to actually have an autopsy done for a child."
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