Mom tending to marijuana leaves 3-year-old to die in hot car, California cops say

A California mother was too busy tending to her growing pot and left her child to die inside a parked car where outside temperatures reached 100 degrees, police say.

Five people face charges in connection to both the alleged child neglect and marijuana grow operation.

Around 5:45 p.m. on June 3, Visalia police were dispatched to a 3-year-old who was not breathing after being left in a parked car. The child was identified as Jessica Campos.

An officer was nearby on an unrelated call and was at the car within seconds. The cop took over CPR efforts from family members who were trying to revive the child, according to Visalia police.

Fire and ambulance personnel arrived on the scene and tried to save Campos. But, she was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Investigators determined Campos was in the car for two to three hours, as outside temperatures reached 100 degrees, according to police.

Witness said the child’s mother Eustajia Mojica Dominguez, was tending to growing marijuana inside a home when Campos was left in the car, according to police. Officers searched the home and found about 475 pounds of marijuana, 70 mature plants and 80 immature plants.

Four other children — aged 15, 11 and two who were 9 months old — were inside the home, police noted. Child Welfare Services took the children.

Mojica Dominguez and four other adults have been charged in connection to the incident.

Araceli Mojica, Emmanuel Ortiz-Aguilar, Valentin Aguilar Ortiz and Victor Flores Corona were all booked at the Tulare County Pretrial Facility on a charge of child endangerment.

Mojica Dominguez was charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. Drug charges related to the marijuana could be added to each suspect.