A Texas man has been charged after his 3-month-old son reportedly died in a hot car on Saturday.
Ricardo Mata, 34, is currently involved in a tragic incident where his infant son was found unresponsive in a locked vehicle in Mission. Mata confessed to placing his son in the back seat and going inside to rest, as per KRGV.
“He further stated that he had been drinking and forgot that the child was in the car,” Hidalgo County police wrote.
Mata is charged with injury to a child causing death.
Additionally, Mata is facing murder charges related to a 2021 shooting that resulted in one man’s death and another person getting injured. This shooting took place at a Stripes store in Mission and involved Mata and five other individuals. Despite being out on bond since 2023, Mata is set for a court hearing in July.
Regrettably, Mata’s son is the 12th child to perish in a hot car in 2024, marking the second such tragic case in Texas last week. Shockingly, according to No Heat Stroke, a total of 39 children lost their lives in hot cars in the same year.
[Feature Photo: Hidalgo County police]
