San Antonio, TX – Amanda Hawkins, the mother of two toddlers who died after being intentionally left in a vehicle for over 15 hours has been arrested and remains in custody, according to ABC7.
The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said that Amanda Hawkins, 19, left the children, Addyson Overgard-Eddy, 2, and Brynn Hawkins, 1, in a car overnight while she partied inside of a house.
85 degrees
The children were left in the vehicle overnight Tuesday June 6, until about noon, Wednesday June 7, according to Kerr County investigators. Temperatures were about 60 degrees overnight and rose to 85 degrees outside of the car by noon. Article continues on the next pages.
She refused to bring the children inside
Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer said that at some point during the night, a 16-year-old male friend of Amanda went out to the car and “slept for a while” but eventually got up and went back inside the house.
The Sheriff also said that friends inside the house reported hearing the children crying and told Hawkins to bring the children inside, but she refused. He said that Addyson and Brynn were without food, water, and a restroom for the entire time that they were in the car.
The children were “in trouble”
Hawkins eventually went to the car and found the children “in trouble”, but did not take them to the hospital. Instead, she tried to cover up what she had done by bathing both children and changing their clothing. Sheriff Hierholzer said that “it was his understanding the children were unconscious at this point.”
He also said that Hawkins had to be talked into taking the children to a hospital for medical care. Hawkins took the children to Peterson Regional Medical Center, and they were then transferred to University Hospital.
Smelling flowers
Hawkins told medical staff that Addyson and Brynn “had collapsed while running around and smelling flowers at Flat Rock Lake,” and “may have gotten into something poisonous.”
Both Addyson and Brynn were placed on ventilators and died about 5 PM on Thursday, June 8.
The Sheriff said that Hawkins didn’t have a record with his agency but that investigators had learned this incident wasn’t the first time that she had left the children in a car.
In a July 2016 Facebook post Amanda Hawkins said:
“If you want my mom to check up and ask questions about if my daughters are taken care of that is messed up. You can ask me yourselves or leave us alone! We are great here. Focus on something else. My daughters have everything they want, and need, plus so much more. They get their checkups they get their shots. They get everything. You don’t see us so just stop. The only people who see us are my mom and my grandparents. Ugh i feel so mad. How dare someone question if i take care of my kids”
Hawkins’ friend, Miriam Davis, told KSAT that she was concerned about how Amanda Hawkins treated her children and she regrets never calling CPS.
“I guess I just hesitated for so long. I didn’t want her kids to be in the system, but I didn’t know they would die if they didn’t,” she said.
Hawkins has been charged with two counts of child endangerment, but those are expected to be upgraded when the grand jury meets. She is currently in the Bexar County Jail under $70,000 bond.