FELICITAS CORDOVA - 4 yo (2009)/ Convicted: Mother; Olga Salazar - Brownsville TX

Poster's Note: Although this is not Technically a murder (yet) IMHO it should be.


A Brownsville child is dead and her mother remains jailed on charges of abandoning or
endangering a child after the little girl died at a local hospital from
heat-related injuries.
Four-year-old Felicitas Alexandra Cordova apparently fell asleep in
the family’s Ford Expedition while it was parked at the Flea Market on
Expressway 77/83 on Sunday, Brownsville police Lt. Orlando Rodriguez said.
The family ran three booths at the flea market.
Olga Salazar, 37, her mother and an undocumented immigrant, has been
arraigned on one count of abandoning or endangering a child. Her bond
was set at $20,000 and she is expected to be transferred to a Cameron
County jail today.
“There was some confusion and the family loss track of her (Felicitas,)” Rodriguez said.
Although emergency services personnel and several citizens performed
cardio pulmonary resuscitation on Cordova while at the flea market, she
died shortly after at Valley Regional Medical Center, Rodriguez said.
Authorities estimate the temperature in the vehicle was at about 100 degrees.
It is not known how long the child had been in the sport utility vehicle before she was found.

Police say a 4-year-old girl who died after being left in a hot car was possibly there for hours.According
to officers, Felicitas Alexandria Cordova and her family were at the
Brownsville Flea Market off Expressway 77 to sell merchandise
yesterday. The girl's mother, 37-year-old Olga Salazar, told police she
realized the 4-year-old was missing.We're told the toddler was
found unconscious in the family's SUV. Investigators say the girl was
sitting in temperatures over 104 degrees."In these South Texas
heats we have in the summertime, anywhere in general, temperatures will
soar with the windows down. And in this case, with the windows rolled
up, it was tragic," says Lieutenant Orlando Rodriguez of the
Brownsville Police Department.The 4-year-old was pronounced dead at a local hospital.Her mother was charged with endangering a child by abandonment.Police
say Salazar is an illegal immigrant and will be turned over to Border
Patrol if she posts bond. The Mexican consulate and Child Protective
Services were notified of the child's death.

A jailed Brownsville mother may not be able to attend her 4-year-old daughter's funeral.Brownsville
Police arrested Olga Salazar under child abandonment/endangerment
charges for the death of her 4-year-old daughter Felicitas Cordova.Investigators told Action 4 News that the 4-year-old girl lost her life on Sunday.Police said the young girl had been inside her family's car while temperatures pushed over 100 degrees inside.Investigators said that Salazar and her family operated at least four booths at the 77 Flea Market off of U.S. Expressway 77/83.Family members were attending their businesses while the girl was inside the car.The family realized that the girl was in the car around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.Emergency workers tried to revive the child, but were unable to save her life.Brownsville Police told Action 4 News that Salazar is an illegal immigrant.She remains jailed under a $20,000 bond with an immigration detainer expected to be filed.Felicitas was the youngest of seven children.Child Protective Services gave custody of Salazar's six other children to their grandmother.It's not clear if Salazar will be allowed to attend her daughter's funeral.

A mother remains jailed on charges of abandoning or endangering a
child after her daughter died at a local hospital from heat-related
injuries over the weekend.
Felicitas Alexandra Cordova, 4, apparently fell asleep Sunday in the
family’s Ford Expedition while it was parked at the flea market on
Expressway 77/83, Brownsville police Lt. Orlando Rodriguez said.
First responders attempted to save the child, but she later died at a local hospital.
Her death from apparent heat exposure in a parked vehicle is this
year’s first in Texas and 23rd in the nation, according to Jan Null, an
adjunct professor of meteorology and certified consulting meteorologist
at San Francisco State University. He researches and tracks deaths of
children left in hot vehicles.
In a matter of 10 minutes, the temperature inside a vehicle can
increase by 19 degrees, which can “kill a small infant or child,” Null
said in a telephone interview from San Francisco.
With an outside temperature of about 96 degrees Sunday, the
temperature inside the car could have peaked at more than 140 degrees,
Null said. A body temperature of 104 degrees or higher could lead to a
heatstroke and other health complications.
Brownsville has logged three days with record high temperatures
since July 1, according to Rob Hart, a meteorologist with the city’s
National Weather Service Forecast Office. The temperature has reached
100 degrees twice during that period.
National statistics indicate more than 30 children have died from
vehicle-related heatstroke each year over the past eight years. Last
year, 43 children across the country died from heat exposure suffered
in a hot vehicle, according to statistics compiled by Null.
Lowering or cracking a window to allow air to flow into a hot vehicle is not much help, Null said.
“A 127-degree temperature compared to 130 degrees” is not going to make a difference, he noted.
Felicitas’ mother, Olga Salazar, 37, has been arraigned on one count
of abandoning or endangering a child, a felony punishable by a minimum
of 180 days in a state jail and a possible fine of up to $10,000 upon
conviction. She was being held Monday at a Cameron County jail in lieu
of $20,000.
Salazar, a single mother and illegal immigrant, ran three booths at
the flea market, said Rodriguez, the Brownsville police lieutenant. She
and her children were tending the booths when the young girl
disappeared.
“There was some confusion as to how it happened,” Rodriguez said, adding the mother seems of have just lost track of the child.
First responders and several others performed CPR on the girl at the
flea market, but she died shortly thereafter at Valley Regional Medical
Center, the lieutenant said.
Authorities estimate the temperature inside the vehicle was at least
100 degrees. It is not known how long the child had been in the SUV
before she was found.
The family had arrived at the flea market about 7 a.m. Sunday,
police said. It wasn’t until the afternoon that family members realized
Felicitas was missing.
The girl had been going back and forth between Salazar and a
17-year-old sibling, police said. Each family member was under the
impression that Felicitas was with the other.
Police are still trying to determine what prompted the young girl to open the door and get inside the vehicle.
“She went in there and went to sleep or was in there sleeping,”
Rodriguez said. “She could have easily gone in there and lost
consciousness (from) the heat, which is something that unfortunately
happens.”
The family often left the doors to the vehicle unlocked and told
police it was not uncommon for the children to get inside it to rest,
Rodriguez said. They usually did so in the morning before the flea
market opened.
The girl was found unresponsive inside the SUV shortly after 4 p.m.,
Rodriguez said. Police and emergency medical responders were dispatched
to the flea market, where they tried to revive the child.
“There was a faint sign of life,” Rodriguez said. “However, they were not able to revive her and she died shortly thereafter.”
An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.
Although the girl’s death isn’t typical of such fatalities — the
more common scenario is that a caregiver leaves a child unattended in a
vehicle — it should dictate to parents that they need to keep an eye on
their children at all times, Rodriguez said.
“The bottom line is that you always have to watch out for your
children and always make sure they are accounted for,” he said. “In
this case that is not what happened, and this is the end result.”
“We feel for the family for what they are going through, but our
duty is to Felicitas Cordova and making sure that this case is
(thoroughly investigated),” Rodriguez said.

November trial date set in injury to a child case

Comments 3
September 27, 2010 9:49 PM

By LAURA B. MARTINEZ, The Brownsville Herald
A November trial date has been set for a mother charged with injury to a child who died after being left in a hot car at a Brownsville flea market.Police said 4-year-old Felicitas Alexandra Cordova apparently fell asleep in the family’s Ford Expedition while it was parked at the Flea Market on Expressway 77/83 in August 2009.The mother, 38-year-old Olga Salazar, an undocumented immigrant, was arrested and initially charged with abandoning or endangering a child. The charges later were changed to injury to a child.Salazar is out on bond. She appeared Monday before 357th state District Judge Leonel Alejandro for a hearing.“I think we are going to go forward” with the case, said Maria De Ford, an assistant district attorney for the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office.Although defense attorney Abel Limas said he was ready to start the case, prosecutors said they needed additional time to interview Salazar’s other children, who also were at the Flea Market on the day the child died.Brownsville police previously had interviewed the children, but state prosecutors want to talk to them as well, authorities said.Salazar’s trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 8.Salazar, a single mother, ran three booths at the flea market. She and her children were tending the booths when the little girl went missing, police said.The little girl eventually was found unresponsive inside the family’s vehicle. Authorities estimate the temperature inside was about 100 degrees or higher. It is not known how long the child had been inside before she was found.Although emergency services personnel and several residents performed cardio pulmonary resuscitation on the child at the flea market, she died of heat-related injuries shortly after at Valley Regional Medical Center.If convicted, Salazar could face 2 to 20 years if she recklessly caused it.http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/set-117373-child-trial.html

Olga Salazar

Mother’s Trial in Death of Daughter Delayed


February 23, 2011


BROWNSVILLE – There is another delay in the case of a young girl who died inside a car at the Brownsville flea market.

The trial of the girl’s mother was set to start Wednesday. Olga Salazar is charged with leaving her 4-year-old daughter in a car with the windows rolled up back in August 2009. The mother was selling items at the flea market.

Rescuers found the 4-year-old girl unresponsive in the family car. The temperature was well over 100 degrees.

Salazar’s trial is now set for March 21.

It's no excuse of course, but surely with all the stuff they had going on and as many in the brood as they had to watch over, this was a pure accident. I do not believe that any malice was intended. She sure qualifies for a dumb ass award and I hope that she gets maximum punishment allowable under this charge. They can, as I understand it, kick it up a notch by adding the term "reckless" to the charge and that also would step up the possible incarceration length.

Mom sentenced to one year for child’s death

By MADELINE BUCKLEY/Valley Morning Star
Posted Oct 28, 2011

BROWNSVILLE — A jury sentenced Olga Salazar Friday to serve one year in jail and three years probation for the death of her 4-year-old daughter.

The 39-year-old woman cried softly when she heard she would spend time in jail. During the punishment phase of the trial, her attorney, Fabian Limas Jr., had asked the jury to recommend probation for the convictions of criminally negligent homicide and child endangerment. The state asked for the maximum sentence of two years in jail.

The jury delivered the sentence after four and a half hours of deliberating – more than twice the time it took to return the guilty verdict.

Salazar was convicted Thursday on charges of criminally negligent homicide and child endangerment for the death of her daughter Felicitas Alexandra Cordova at the Flea Market at Expressway 77/83 on Aug. 2, 2009. The child was found unresponsive in the family’s hot truck while the family sold items at the market, and she later died of heatstroke.

Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos said he was pleased with the verdict.

“Our focus has always been to have parents take responsibility for the health and well-being of their children,” Villalobos said. “Many times, there is a sentiment to excuse the parents’ grossly negligent behavior due to the overwhelming grief and sadness that accompanies these situations.”

Salazar has seven children. The oldest are 19 and the youngest is 1-year-old. Limas said Child Protective Services will determine who will care for the children, but it will most likely be a family member.

“There are no winners in these types of cases,” Limas said after the trial concluded. “Her kids will be without a mom for a year.”

Salazar spent 20 days in jail after her arrest in 2009. That time will be credited toward her one-year jail sentence. The terms of her probation could include counseling, parenting classes and English language classes, according to the jury’s sentence.

http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/local_news/article_d7debdb2-4cf7-5010-b044-e393d8606d5c.html?mode=jqm