CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The two recent hot-car deaths sound the same when you look at the facts, however, the Corpus Christi mother bond is 18 times higher than the Beeville grandmother's $50,000 bond.
3NEWS asked the Beeville police chief and Nueces County district attorney why there are different charges and bond amounts for the deaths that were under the same circumstances.
On Tuesday, 69-year-old Ruth Rodriguez was led out of the Bee County Jail and delivered to her family members inside the lobby of the jail. The grandmother had just made a $50,000 bond on a charge of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the death of her 9-month-old granddaughter Gabriella Arroyos.
The little girl was left in her grandmother’s car for around eight hours on Aug. 21.
"Here in Beeville we get the charge that we were charging was appropriate," Behr said. "We talked with our district attorney and he felt that was an appropriate charge."
On Aug. 20 in Corpus Christi, Hilda Adame was charged with injury to a child with serious bodily injury and abandoning/endangering a child after leaving her 22-month-old daughter in her car. She remains in jail on $900,000 bond.
Nueces County District Attorney Jimmy Granberry told 3NEWS that the initial charges in Adame's case could be changed during a bond reduction hearing on Wednesday.
He also said the high bond may also be moved down to be more in line with the Beeville hot-car death case.
"The defense lawyer, Angelica Hernandez has filed a motion to reduce bond," Granberry said. "We anticipate -- we're in negotiations now -- and we anticipate coming down substantially from what the bond is.”
Hernandez, told 3NEWS that her client is charged with intentionally leaving her daughter in a hot car and said that is simply not the case. She says it was a tragic accident.
Hernandez added that she wants to see the charges reduced and the bond amount dropped.