Dad of Calif. Girl Who Died in Hot Car with Allegedly Drunk Mom Inside Lost 2 Kids to DUI Driver in 2012 (Exclusive)

09/14/2024 02:00 PM

Prosecutors say Sandra Hernandez-Cazares was 'severely intoxicated' when she parked the car near her apartment and mother and daughter lost consciousness in the extreme summer heat

Relatives broke the window of the white Ford Expedition parked near the mother's California apartment and pulled the limp 3-year-old from the scorching car.

But Ily Elizabeth Ruiz was already dead, with Anaheim police saying in a press release that they believe she died of complications from heat stroke on Friday, Sept. 6. (Her autopsy is pending.)

Her mother, Sandra Hernandez-Cazares — allegedly unconscious in the locked vehicle with "a blood alcohol content of nearly four times the legal limit," according to a press release from Orange County prosecutors — is charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse causing great bodily injury, with an enhancement charge based on Ily's age, per online court information.

Related: 3-Year-Old Girl Dies After She's Found Unconscious in Hot Car Alongside Her Mother: Reports

Prosecutors said in the press release that Hernandez-Cazares and the father of their four children had pushed for stricter DUI laws after their two young sons were fatally run over by a drunk driver while camping in North Dakota in 2012.

Recalling the earlier accident, the father, Juan Ruiz, said in a phone interview with PEOPLE that he had suffered a collapsed lung, flatlining, and had to be airlifted off the campgrounds.

"They should have let me die there, too," Ruiz says. "I would not be going through this again."

Calling Ily "my princess," the grieving father – who named his youngest child for the abbreviation of "I Love You," – remembered her "bubbly personality," and penchant for "everything princesses," especially Frozen's Elsa.

In pictures and videos he shared of his daughter and 5-year-old son, Lazarus Ruiz, the kids are seen scrambling eggs and cooking stovetop hot dogs, the little girl grinning up at the camera, fork in hand.

Such quiet days were a part of the life he rebuilt after the loss of Cyris Alexander Ruiz, 9, and Alaries Marcos Ruiz, 5.

"We had a conversation about Lazarus not growing up to be an only child," Ruiz recalls, of deciding to have Ily. "And now I have just one child left."

Ruiz says Hernandez-Cazares, who he met in high school, had never recovered from the deaths of their eldest sons.

The couple split two years ago.

"She would never do this to her daughter on purpose," he says. "But it doesn't change what is done."

Family members searched for the 42-year-old mom Friday, Sept. 6, after Lazarus's kindergarten reported that he had not been picked up, according to prosecutors.

Around 4:20 p.m., authorities responded to the 1300 block of N. Fashion Lane, where prosecutors say relatives and paramedics tried to revive Ily, who had died in what prosecutors described as "extreme temperatures."

Doctors believe Ily had been dead for several hours before relatives found them inside the vehicle, which prosecutors and police allege was littered with "empty alcohol bottles."

At the hospital, Hernandez-Cazares's blood alcohol level registered at 0.30, per prosecutors.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Referencing "the unimaginable pain" of her sons' tragic 2012 deaths, District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement that such a "devastating tragedy" has "ripple effects of grief," adding: "A mother who was robbed of the chance to see two of her sons grow up because of the selfish decision of a stranger will have to live with the fact she will never get to see her little girl grow up because of the choices she made."

Ruiz – who had been working at an oil field in Texas to support his family – says that for the second time, everything changed in a moment with the death of their third child.

Quitting his job following Ily's death, he traveled to California, where on Wednesday, Sept. 11, he attended a hearing in which he tells PEOPLE he gained partial custody of Lazarus, who Child Protective Services had originally placed in the care of an aunt.

His voice broke as Ruiz said in an interview just days after his daughter's death that his son did not yet know his sister had died because he wants to "explain it to him," himself, adding: "This is going to be hard for him. So if I want my son to come out of this, I have to be there for him. My son needs me."

Meanwhile, Hernandez-Cazares – who is held at Orange County Jail on $150,000 bond – faces  a maximum sentence of 12 years if convicted on all charges, according to prosecutors. 

She made her first court appearance on Tuesday, Sept. 10, and her arraignment and bail review is slated for Oct. 1, per online court information.

Her public defender, Catherine Gardner, did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Ruiz says he does not want the mother of his children vilified. 

"Sandy was a good mom when she was okay," he says. "She needs help, she would never do this on purpose. I don't want people to hate her. Just leave the hate for me."

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Juan Ruiz with funeral plans.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.