Mom accused of leaving 7 kids in car

By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com

A woman was arrested at the Cameron County Annex Building on the morning of Monday, July 11 for allegedly leaving her seven children unattended in her vehicle.

Thirty-year-old Blanca Lucia Chavez Amaya Sifuentes, a Mexican national who lives in San Benito, is accused of leaving her seven children inside the vehicle while she was inside the annex building.

“Apparently a call came out that there were children left inside a vehicle unattended,” said Lieutenant Martin Morales of the San Benito Police Department (SBPD). “Police Officer Candido Ortiz was the responding officer. When he got there, he located the vehicle in question, which was a black Toyota Corolla. When he looked into the vehicle, he observed a total of seven children inside the vehicle.”

According to Morales, the vehicle was running and the air conditioner was on as well. “But according to (Ortiz) the air condition was weak. It wasn’t functioning at 100 percent,” said Morales. “It wasn’t as cool as a normal air conditioning unit would work and the windows were rolled up. He saw that there were no adults attending to these children.”

Morales said that the youngest of the children was approximately two-months-old and the oldest was eight-years-old, a total of three boys and four girls. The children are believed to have been inside the vehicle for an estimated 30 minutes, according to police.

Sifuentes, according to Morales, allegedly said that she did not have anywhere else to take her children and did not think much of the situation. The children are currently in the custody of their father.

“The officers looked for the mother who was inside the county annex building, apparently attending to some appointment,” said Morales. “They took her outside, she confirmed that she was the mother of the children, and at that point they brought her to the station.”

The woman was arraigned at the police department by Judge David Garza. She was charged with seven counts of endangering a child, each worth $2,000 for a total of $14,000 in bonds. As of deadline, Sifuentes was being held at the Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito. Attempts to contact her or legal representation were unsuccessful as of presstime.

To see this story in print, pick up a copy of the July 13 edition of the San Benito News. Or view our E-Edition by clicking here.