‘Lip Filler BBL Mom’ Locked Up for Baby’s Hot Car Death

15 years doesn't seem like enough. In my. eyes and in the eyes of a father who had. to live with his son in a cold grave, it is not enough. Maya Hernandez learned. her fate in the death of her 1-year-old. son after prosecutors say she left him. and his brother in a scorching hot car. to get a cosmetic procedure. She chose. her appearance over her son's. And that choice cost Emilio his life. This is an incredibly sad case. about a 20-year-old mother [music] of.

two, a car, and a terrible, awful mistake. This is. an incredibly sad case about a [music]. 20-year-old mother of two, a car, and a. terrible, awful situation. A deadlocked. jury left the case [music] at a. standstill until Hernandez took a plea. deal. >> My understanding is that the people and. the defense have. entered into an agreement. Mr. Hernandez. will enter a plea of no contest. >> Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law &.

Crime. I'm Jesse [music] Weber. Can we be honest about something before. we go any further? When most people look. at their bank statements, the amount of. DoorDash orders over the last 2 years is. probably a little embarrassing, but I. just saw a report that is going to make. you put your phone down. There are. serious allegations coming out that the. app may have tracked your precise. location and shared it with third. parties without your consent, potentially capitalizing on sensitive. data. It's actually a huge privacy deal, and Morgan & Morgan, they're jumping in.

to investigate. So, if you've used the. app between 2023 and 2025, you can. easily check to see if you qualify for a. claim. And if you do, you may be. entitled to compensation. You can visit. 4thepeople.com/sidebardash. or click the link in the description for. a free case review. It takes just 5. minutes or less. A 20-year-old mother of two from. Visalia, California, has been sentenced. to 15 years behind bars in the death of.

her 1-year-old son. This was after she. pleaded no contest to a count of. involuntary manslaughter with additional. enhancements of child cruelty. Now, no. contest meaning you aren't necessarily. admitting that you committed the crime, but you just aren't going to fight it. You aren't contesting it. You're. allowing yourself to be convicted of. this crime. Now, this is a case that. took nearly 9 months to come to an end. And it has been at the center of debate. in the court of public opinion and in. the courtroom itself. And this has left a jury deadlocked on.

if the woman standing trial was in fact. a murderer. What is apparent in this case is that. Myra Hernandez was spared an even worse. punishment. And if you heard the clip at. the start of the episode, at least one. of the victim's family members was not. happy with this outcome. Now, we're. going to get to how the sentencing. hearing played out in court this week, but. we need to first talk about how we got. here in the first place. According to an. incident report from the Bakersfield. Police Department, officers were. dispatched to the always beautiful Med. Spa at around 4:45 p.m. on June 29th,

2025 after Hernandez called 911 to. report her baby wasn't breathing. Officers noticed Hernandez's 1-year-old. son, Emilio Gutierrez, was unconscious, not breathing, had blue discoloration. around his lips, and at the time an. employee at the Med Spa was holding. Hernandez's 2-year-old son, who. according to the officer appeared. lethargic with soaking wet hair. You'll. see why in a minute. We'll talk about. that. Both children were transported to. a local hospital where unfortunately,

tragically, sadly, I don't even know. what else you can describe this as, Emilio was pronounced dead shortly. thereafter. According to the police. report, Emilio's internal temperature. had reached 107°. Fahrenheit with the coroner later. determining that he died of heatstroke. Now, Hernandez's 2-year-old son. fortunately survived this incident and. was placed into protective custody. Hernandez, she told police that she. arrived at the med spa around 2:00 p.m. that afternoon to receive a cosmetic. procedure. So, it wasn't like medically.

necessary procedure, which is important. I think to understand. And police. initially reported it to be lip filler. injections, but we're going to get into. that a little bit later on. Hernandez. told police that she left both of her. children buckled in the backseat with. the air conditioning on. But it wasn't. until 4:30 p.m. So, roughly 2 and 1/2. hours later that she left that spa and. noticed her children were in medical. distress. When officers asked her why. she just didn't take her children inside. the med spa for the appointment, she. said she didn't think that they would be.

harmed with her vehicle and the air. conditioning on. But here's the thing, police determined that Hernandez's car. was actually off for around 1 and 1/2. hours while she was inside. It was later. discovered by detectives that her. specific Toyota sedan model. automatically shuts off if it doesn't. receive any input from the driver within. an hour. Now, keep in mind, the reported. temperature that day was around 101°. Fahrenheit. And according to. prosecutors, the temperature in the. vehicle reached a scorching 116°.

Fahrenheit. According to the police report, Hernandez admitted to detectives that. she knew it was irresponsible to leave. her kids in the car and she thought. about it when she got out of the vehicle. to enter the med spa, but had really no. justification as to why she left them in. there. And it was at this point that. Hernandez was initially charged with. involuntary manslaughter and two counts. of child endangerment. But the following. month, this is when Hernandez received. an additional upgraded charge, second-degree murder. She pleaded not. guilty to all of these charges. This was.

ahead of her trial that began in. December. Now, cameras were allowed. inside the courtroom for opening. statements. And this is where. prosecutors said that Hernandez, they. made the argument that she made a. choice. She made a deadly choice. On. June 29th, 2025, the defendant, the biological mother to. Emilio and. the one person who is supposed to. protect, supposed to put her two sons above. everything else, chose herself.

On that day, June 29th, 2025, the. defendant chose vanity. She chose her. appearance over her sons. And that choice cost Emilio his life. On June 29th, 2025, in the heart of Bakersfield summer, the defendant Maya Hernandez drove from. Visalia to Bakersfield. She drove here with her two sons, Emilio.

and. She drove here to an elective cosmetic. procedure. A procedure to enhance her looks. And ladies and gentlemen, when she drove. here, she knew. that she could bring the boys, Emilio and. into the appointment with her. She knew they were welcome. She knew. they could wait inside the air.

conditioning. But she chose to leave them in the car. She chose a break. She chose time to herself. She chose time to socialize with other. adults. And again, that choice cost Emilio his. life. She did not leave that building a. single time between 2:05 p.m. and 4:30. to check on her sons. She chose to ignore all of her.

responsibilities. She ignored the fact. that she had children that day. She. ignored the fact that they were in the. car. She spoke about her children, ladies and gentlemen. She told the other patrons in the spa. that she had children. What she failed to acknowledge, what she. failed to ever say, is that her children. were in the car. She didn't tell anybody this information. because she knew it was wrong.

She knew her two babies should not be in. the car without her in the heat. But she chose to leave them there. anyway. You will also see the text. messages that the defendant exchanged. with the injector, with the registered. nurse that provided the treatment. Text. messages where she says, "Can I bring my kids inside? Or can I. bring my kids in by chance?" "Sure, if. you don't mind them waiting in the. waiting area, hon.".

That message, ladies and gentlemen, came. before the defendant ever left Visalia. for Bakersfield. To kind of piggyback off this. information, you're also going to hear. that the defendant did have an option. for a babysitter that day. She knew she. could have asked her sister, and her. sister probably would have said yes. But she chose not to. This wasn't an. accident. It wasn't a mistake. She did. not forget them. She knew they were there. She left them. in the car. You will hear that she knew the dangers.

of doing so. She knew before she got out of her car. that if she left them in the car, Emilio. and. could be injured, that they could die. She knew that. You will hear that with that knowledge, with that information, she did it. anyway. But meanwhile, Hernandez's. defense team painted a different. picture, that this was just a tragic, unfortunate mistake. This is an. incredibly sad case.

about a 20-year-old mother of two, a car, and a terrible, awful mistake. But it's not about murder. The two children in this case are. and Emilio. Ms. Hernandez is their mother, and she is a single parent living up in. Visalia, where she works as a CNA. in a care facility called Sierra Valley. Rehab Center. Before she goes into the. business, she left her kids in their car seats.

with cookies, a bottle of milk each, and. with she left her phone so that he could. watch TV. Before she went into the business, Ms. Hernandez left her keys under the seat. The car was running. The air. conditioning was on. Ms. Hernandez thought that the car would. stay running, that the air conditioning would likewise. remain on, and that. that. Emilio would be okay. I want to pause for a second,

because law enforcement would later. determine two things. One, there's no black box information in this. case, and what I mean by that is that. the car's. data recorder cannot provide any on-off. times for the engine relevant to this. case. And number two, law enforcement verifies with Toyota. mechanics that the car shuts off after. an hour if the shift lever stays in. park, and that timer system in that car is.

reset. if the brake pedal is depressed, or if the shift lever moves, neither of. which unfortunately happened in this. case. Things at the business were running. behind, and Ms. Hernandez stayed in the. waiting room too long. And when the procedure was done, she. went back out to the car and discovered. that something was very wrong with. Emilio. Cheeks were red, and that's something that happens with. him according to what Ms. Hernandez will.

later tell law enforcement. And when Ms. Hernandez took Emilio. out of his car seat, Emilio started. shaking. In her own words, Ms. Hernandez starts. freaking out. And she initially believes. that Emilio's having a seizure because. had a seizure once before, and to her it. looked the same. Ms. Hernandez calls 911 twice. And in between takes Emilio inside the. business to the nurse. Ms. Hernandez.

attempts CPR on Emilio, and 911 helps. her with that, but tragically it doesn't. work. And neither do the attempts by. medical personnel. Now, unfortunately, cameras weren't allowed inside the. courtroom to film the witnesses, but we. do have court reporters that were able. to give recaps of the testimony. So, here's what stood out. Prosecutors. called Isabella Caterino to the stand. She was an employee of the med spa that. Hernandez traveled to on that day of the. incident. And according to her, Hernandez went out to her vehicle after. the procedure to go get her phone to.

pay, and 15 minutes later, Caterino. exited the building, saw Hernandez. sitting in the car holding one of her. children with a second child in the. backseat. And she confirmed on the stand. that she told officers Hernandez didn't. appear to act with any sense of urgency, didn't appear at any point to be on the. phone with 911 or performing CPR or. initiating any life-saving measures. Though, I will add the jury did hear. Hernandez's 911 call during this case. The prosecution also called Harmony.

Pacheco. This is the registered nurse. who was conducting Hernandez's. procedure. Now, first of all, she told. the prosecution and the jury that. Hernandez didn't go to the med spa for. lip filler injections, but for a liquid. BBL procedure, which also includes. injections to your, you know, your. behind to make it bigger. And Pacheco. said the procedure lasted 15 to 20. minutes. Hernandez left the building. again to go get her phone to pay, but. when she returned, she had Emilio in her.

arms. And according to her, this little. boy was purple, had foam in his mouth, and when Pacheco shouted for someone to. call the ambulance, Hernandez reportedly. went back outside. Eventually, she said. a spa employee brought Hernandez's. 2-year-old son inside the building, attempted to cool him down. Now, when it. came time for the defense's case, Hernandez herself took the stand. She. tried to explain her situation. She. tried to explain what happened. She told. the jury about her role as a single. parent, a primary provider, and then she.

got into the morning of the incident. And Hernandez testified their sons ate. breakfast before she took them whether. to the med spa, how both kids were. asleep when she went in for that. procedure. And Hernandez told the jury. that she had previously slept in her. car, had left the AC running, never. turning off before. And while inside the. waiting room, Hernandez testified that. she used her Apple Watch to make sure. that her children were still watching. YouTube. But it wasn't until she went. out to her car to pay that she noticed. her children were in trouble. And the. 911 phone call was then played for the.

jury, where she reportedly told the. dispatcher that she believed her son. Emilio was dead. Hernandez then told the. dispatcher that she was performing CPR, and the dispatcher proceeded to give her. instructions. Hernandez testified that. she spoke with dispatchers until the. ambulance arrived. And while wrapping up. her testimony, Hernandez said that she. believed that she was taking. responsibility for what she did, her. actions, when she told detectives that. she was irresponsible. And she didn't. intend for her children to be harmed.

But then we had cross-examination, right? This is the prosecution's ability. to question the defendant. And Hernandez. admitted to the jury that she didn't. know what her kids were doing for the 2. and 1/2 hours she was inside that med. spa, and that they could have come into. the business using a double stroller. that she had in the trunk, but she. explained on the stand that she didn't. want to leave her kids alone inside the. business with strangers. Hernandez. testified that it wasn't until what. happened to her sons that she realized. she made a fatal mistake. After both.

sides rested their case, each side gave. their closing arguments. She. deliberately acted with conscious. disregard for human life. It sounds stupid for me to say like, "Oh, like I didn't mean for that to. happen." Cuz like I did leave them, but. I thought they were going to be okay. It sounds stupid for me to say I thought. they were going to be okay. It sounds stupid for me to say that. because we all know, everybody knows, I, Maya Hernandez, know that that's. dangerous and I did it anyway.

She knew leaving them was a bad. decision. She knew leaving them in the. car was dangerous before she got out of. the car. and she did it anyway. With the knowledge that her actions were. dangerous. With the knowledge that her. actions were dangerous to human life. With the knowledge that her actions, leaving the kids in the car, could. result in death, she did it anyway. This is conscious disregard for human. life, ladies and gentlemen. If you're.

the parent that just walks in and leaves. them in a hot car, you're consciously disregarding. That. was that alternate scenario, the first. one. But this one is. hot car, hot car, hot car. Maya knows. that it's hot and hot car, so she turns. on the AC thinking it's going to keep. running. So in order to get her for conscious. disregard, they would have to prove. that Maya knew the car would time out.

and then went in anyway. The point isn't that Maya didn't know. that leaving a kid in a hot car is. risky. She did. That's why she left the AC on. What she didn't know. is that it would turn off. Maya thought she mitigated the risk. And this is true whether she's walking. away or sitting in the lobby. For your at-the-time decision, this is.

true either way because she thought the. AC was on. She was wrong, tragically. Well, after 2. days of deliberations, look what. happened with the jury. We have a note. from the jury from 9:15 a.m. which reads. as follows. Hopelessly deadlocked, the jurors in. favor of guilty on count one are. in their position. We feel that further. deliberation would be pointless. Third. count. We, the jury impaneled to try the.

above-entitled case, find the defendant, Maya Fernandez, guilty of child abuse. likely to produce great bodily harm or. death of Amelia G. Fourth count. We, the. jury impaneled to try the above-entitled. case, find the defendant, Maya. Fernandez, guilty of child abuse likely. to produce great bodily harm or death of. I am declaring a mistrial as to count. one, which then necessitates a mistrial. as to count two, count two being a. lesser.

included offense. Yeah, so Hernandez was. convicted on two counts of child abuse, but there was a mistrial. The jury was. deadlocked when it came to those other. charges of second-degree murder and. involuntary manslaughter, meaning. prosecutors would have the option to. retry those charges. That didn't end up. happening because on February 11th of. this year, Hernandez opted for a plea. deal. Is it your understanding that the. people and the defense have. entered into an agreement? Mr. Hernandez.

would enter a plea of no contest. >> And as I said earlier, Hernandez pleaded. no contest to involuntary manslaughter. with enhancements of child cruelty with. a fixed prison sentence of 15 years. So, you fast forward to this week where. Hernandez sat before the court to. officially receive her sentence from the. judge. But, before that happened, a. victim impact statement was given from. Katie Martinez. This is the grandmother. of Hernandez's two children. Here's what. she had to say. I come here today to. make sure that no key deal or no legal. document can capture.

15 years doesn't seem like enough. In the eyes of the law, a number has. been assigned to this tragedy, but in my. eyes and in the eyes of the father who. had. to visit his son in a cold grave, it is not enough. At least if we don't have a lifetime. with our Emilio, we'll never attend graduations, birthday. parties, or even have him sitting at the kitchen. table watching him eat a simple meal. The tragedy didn't break our family, it. shook the hearts of Porterville.

Nations have stood and prayed our city. wept over Emilio. It was. so hard to get that phone call that day. And seeing Emilio without his brother. has broken my heart more than you can. know. I ask for you to hear the weight that. his father and our family endure and. know that no sentence will ever keep his. name out of our town and we will strive. no other child ever has to.

face this future. So, it seems that. Martinez was the only family member to. speak during that hearing. So, the judge. then moved on to the official. sentencing. As we know, we did have a. jury trial and there was. a partial verdict in this case. Um so, we have a verdict and then there. was a resolution reached um between the. people of the state of California and. Ms. Hernandez through her attorney with. her attorney. uh earlier and that's how we reached the. point that we're at here.

today. Credits are 250 actual, 37 good in work. for a total of 287. That's on a 15% basis. calculation. In regard to count three, Penal Code. Section 273. A, subsection A, probation is denied. You are sentenced to the Department of. Corrections for the upper term of 6. years. That is enhanced by 6 years. pursuant to Section 12022.7.

D of the Penal Code. And that sentence. is further enhanced by 4 years pursuant. to Section 12022.95. of the Penal Code. Punishment for that enhancement is. stayed pursuant to Rule 4.447 of the. California Rules of Court until the. successful completion of the sentence I. have imposed and permanently thereafter. And when you add up all those figures, it equates to 16 years in prison, but. because of the fixed agreement in the. plea deal, the sentence for Hernandez.

remains at 15 years. And that also. includes restitution in Emilio's death, cost to her surviving son. And this is. an amount that's going to be determined. by appropriate court later on. But I. just want to leave with one more aspect. to this. The judge left the court with. these final words before remanding. Hernandez into custody. So, we turn the. page now on this chapter. And the. question is, where does everybody go. from here? And I hope that there's some peace for. everyone. because that's the only way to move.

forward. Maya will be going to prison. Maya already has a life sentence because. of the loss of Emilio. I hope as. everyone leaves here today, that what. isn't forgotten is. and it won't be. Emilio won't be. forgotten. But this can't happen again. And that's. all we have for you right now here on. Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much. for joining us. And as always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcast. You can also follow us on NBC's. Peacock. If you want to follow me, X,

Instagram, my NewsNation show, Jesse. Weber LIVE, Monday [music] through. Friday at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. See you. next time, everybody.