The Parker County Sheriff's Office has arrested Cynthia Marie Randolph after further investigation into her children's "accidental" death revealed that it was actually a deadly lesson she subjected the toddlers.
Randolph's confession came after a nearly month-long investigation where she gave inconsistent accounts of the events leading to the death of her two children, 2-year-old Juliet and 16-month old Cavanaugh, who were found inside a hot car on the afternoon of May 26.
Randolph was charged with two counts of first-degree felony for injury to a child causing serious bodily injury and is being kept at Parker County Jail with a $200,000 bond.
Inconsistent Accounts
According to the PCSO investigators, Randolph was quick to say that her children could not have been locked inside her 2010 Honda Crosstour for more than an hour before she came to the rescue and called medics to the scene on that hot May afternoon.
After all, Randolph said she was only folding laundry while her kids were playing in their sun porch for about half an hour before they went missing. Randolph said she searched the premises for about another half an hour before she found them unconscious inside her locked car, which was parked out on their driveway. She quickly broke the window and called for medical attention but it was already too late because both children were pronounced dead at the scene.
That was the first account.
As the investigation into the tragedy went along, investigators noted that Randolph was giving them different accounts of what happened that day and the inconsistencies were enough to suspect that something was amiss.
Randolph finally confessed what really happened that afternoon during her final interview on June 23, leading to her arrest.
A Deadly Lesson
During her final interview, Randolph admitted that she was really the one who locked her children inside the car on that 96-degree Fahrenheit afternoon, but it was only to teach her kids a lesson. She also confessed that she broke her car windows to support her first story.
According to Randolph's final account, she found her children playing inside her car around noon and she immediately told her daughter to " Stop your s-t" and get out of the car.
The child refused to obey her order so she decided to shut the door and lock it to teach Juliet a lesson, convinced that her 2-year old could just open the doors and get out with her brother when she grew tired of playing inside.
As for Randolph, she decided to go back inside the house, smoke marijuana, and take a two or three-hour nap. When she woke up hours later, she discovered that both her children were still inside the car and were already unconscious.
She called paramedics and broke her car window to make it look like an accident.
Reminder From Experts
Experts say that children overheat four times quicker than adults and could die once their body temperature reaches 107 degrees. Inside a fully enclosed space, such as a locked car, 96 degrees can quickly rise to deadly levels in minutes.
Current data on heatstroke record 700 child deaths inside hot vehicles for the past 20 years. This type of death is fully preventable and adults should take necessary measure to ensure that their kids don't become a part of the statistic.
