Mom guilty in baby’s hot car death
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EL CAJON — An El Cajon mother whose baby died after being left overnight in a hot car was convicted Thursday of child abuse.
The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for two days, determining Jessica Quezada, 24, is criminally liable for forgetting 4-month-old Giovanni Soto after a trip to Walmart. Temperatures in the car reached up to 111 degrees, prosecutors said during closing arguments Tuesday.
The boy’s father, Israel Soto, 32, was acquitted.
Jurors disagreed with Quezada’s defense attorneys’ claims that the boy’s death was nothing but a tragic accident.
The parents had assumed someone in their group had grabbed Giovanni from the car and taken him into their North Mollison Avenue apartment, their attorneys said. They called 911 when they discovered he was missing and found him unresponsive in the car.
Quezada was also convicted of two drug-related charges. Police found methamphetamine and a pipe in her purse after the death. Tests showed she last used the drug within three days of the baby’s death.
She had also smoked marijuana the night the baby was left in the car, on July 26, 2013, standing just 6 feet away from the vehicle.
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