Witness & Attorney Speak Out After Baby Trapped In Hot Car As Mom Got Lip Filler Dies

According to local ABC affiliate, KERO, on June 29, Maya Hernandez, 20, left her two young sons, Amillio Gutierrez, 1, and his 2-year-old older brother, out in the car for over two hours when she went into a med spa for a lip filler procedure, per authorities. The two children were rushed to the hospital, where Gutierrez was pronounced dead.

A witness, Ian Bleu, spoke to KERO about the incident, sharing his alleged recollection of events.

Bleu said he was inside the spa with his dog and a friend, along with others. He claimed that Hernandez noted that she had children, but didn't say anything about them being in an outside car.

According to Bleu, everything was "calm" in the spa -- until an employee noticed one of the children.

"The kid, it was like, sweating -- red, purple -- like, it was real bad,” Bleu told KERO. "And then Maya walked in with the other kid and he was just, like, limp."

The witness claimed to the outlet that the young children were showing "signs of heart distress," and said Hernandez "appeared emotionally disconnected even as first responders arrived," per KERO.

"She didn't even look like she cared," Bleu claimed. "We were about to cry, and the cops thought we were the parents."

When asked about the incident by police, Hernandez reportedly told them she'd left the car running and the air conditioner on, set at 60 degrees, according to court documents, per KGET. She reportedly said she thought that they would be fine with the a/c running.

The spa employee who reportedly attended to the two-year-old, pulling him from the vehicle, said there was no indication that the air conditioning was running, and the car was hot, per police.

Bakersfield Police Department investigators consulted an expert on the matter and learned that a 2022 Toyota Corolla Hybrid's air conditioner can shut off after one hour, per KGET.

According to KERO, Blue said he had walked his dog near Hernandez's car, and claimed it did not appear that the air conditioning was on, and said no windows had been rolled down.

On the day of the incident, Hernandez reportedly messaged the facility before her two o'clock appointment and asked if it was okay if she brought her children inside.

The response she received, according to the police offense report reviewed by multiple outlets, including KERO and KGET, was, "Sure if you don't mind them waiting in the waiting room hun."

Hernandez instead opted to leave her two young sons out in the car, according to authorities.

Police documents stated that she did not check on her children for the next two-and-a-half hours. While the procedure itself only took approximately 15 to 20 minutes, per KERO, the spa was busy and so she was inside much longer.

"They were strapped in their car seats. They couldn't even get up to save themselves," the boys' grandmother Katie Martinez told WABC. "She literally locked them in their car seats and shut their doors."

By the time she had returned to her boys at 4:30 p.m., Hernandez purportedly saw her one-year-old having a seizure, foaming at the mouth, and shaking, per police documents.

Both boys were rushed inside the med spa as employees raced out to help Hernandez, per the legal documents. One customer reportedly rushed the two-year-old to the restroom and poured water on his body.

Police arrived on the scene at 4:45 p.m., and Gutierrez was rushed to the hospital, where doctors found he had a temperature of 107 degrees. By 5:48 p.m., after 40 minutes of attempting to resuscitate him, the young boy was pronounced dead.

His older brother, whose temperature had risen to 99 degrees, survived and was taken into child protective services. Medical personnel explained that a two-year-old can better regular their body temperature as they are able to sweat, whereas babies are not, per KERO.

Outside temperatures at the time of the incident had reached 101 degrees, according to KGET, while temperatures inside a vehicle can rise even faster, reaching a possible high of 143 degrees within an hour, per the police report.

After she'd learned of her son's death, per Law&Crime, the police report states that Hernandez "admitted that she knew it was irresponsible to leave her kids in the car, and she thought about it when she got out of the car, but had no justification as to why she left them anyway."

Hernandez was arrested and arraigned on charges of child cruelty and involuntary manslaughter.

During a pre-preliminary hearing on July 11, Hernandez pleaded not guilty, per KERO. She is being held at the Kern County Jail on more than $1 million bail.

Meanwhile, Hernandez's defense attorney, Teryl D. Wakeman, spoke out following the hearing.

According to KERO, Wakeman said he doesn't want the public to "rush to judgment," and suggested that there could be a bigger issue at play.

He cited Hernandez's age -- and said that brain development continues into the mid-20s, per KERO.

"She's barely 20. And a charge is not a fact -- it's a charge," Wakeman said. "You would want someone to look into all the aspects of the case -- medical, mental health, background -- before deciding."

Katie Martinez, the grandmother of Hernandez's boys, told WABC that Hernandez's actions were entirely out of character for her, saying that she "was a really loving mom. Those boys loved her. They really loved her and they relied on her."

According to a GoFundMe established by Amillio's aunt, Savanah Gutierrez, his father is currently incarcerated. He reportedly learned of his son's death from a jail chaplain the day after he passed. The family is raising money to "bring our baby boy home and give him a proper funeral."

Hernandez is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.