Edinburg Police Arrest Couple for Leaving 6-month old Infant Unattended in Vehicle

Edinburg, Texas, Oct. 29, 2023 – Edinburg police arrested a man and a woman on charges of child endangerment after they allegedly left their 6-month-old infant unattended in an unlocked car. The suspects have been identified as Alexandra Navarrete and Ismael Esparza, according to records from Hidalgo County Jail.

According to a probable cause affidavit, on October 18th at 6:17 p.m., law enforcement received a call and dispatched an officer to Junior’s Supermarket on North Business 281. At the scene, officers encountered a man and a woman who claimed to have arrived at the store around 6:10 p.m. They reported discovering the six-month-old infant alone in the vehicle. The car’s doors were closed, and all windows were rolled up, except for the driver’s window.

The man stated that he removed the child from the car because the doors were unlocked. He attempted to locate the parents but was unsuccessful. Navarrete and Esparza did not return to the vehicle until around 6:35 p.m.

Upon speaking with Navarrete and Esparza, they confirmed that they were the parents of the infant, in addition to a 3-year-old boy. They admitted that they had left their daughter in the car, believing the other parent had taken her, after tending to their son.

Surveillance footage from the store revealed that the parents left their vehicle at 6:08 p.m., leaving the infant behind. They did not reappear until 6:37 p.m., a significant period of time during which the infant was unattended.

The officer noted that the temperature was 86 degrees at the time of the incident, underscoring the potential danger to the child.

Subsequently, both Navarrete and Esparza were taken into custody and transported to the Edinburg City Jail. Esparza’s bond was set at $15,000, while Navarrete’s bond was set at $1,000.