A Texas man has been charged after his 3-month-old son reportedly died in a hot car on Saturday.
Ricardo Mata, 34, was allegedly caring for his infant son when the baby was found unresponsive in a locked vehicle in Mission. At some point, Mata admitted to putting his son in the back seat and going inside to lie down, according to 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.
KRGV reported that Mata is also facing murder charges in connection with a 2021 shooting that left a man dead and another injured. Mata was one of six men implicated in the shooting, which reportedly occurred at a Stripes store in Mission. Mata, who was released on bond in 2023, has a court hearing scheduled for July.
Mata’s son is the 12th child to die in a hot car this year — and the second to die in Texas last week. According to No Heat Stroke, 39 children died in hot cars in 2024.
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[Feature Photo: Hidalgo County police]
