Last week, Juan Rodriguez was charged with the death of his one-year-old twins who died after he accidentally left them in his hot car for approximately eight hours. However, after reviewing the situation, prosecutors have decided not to pursue charges against Rodriguez at this time.
The accident occurred last month after Juan mistakenly thought he had dropped the twins off at daycare. Instead, the twins were still in the car in rear-facing car seats. Juan had dropped his older son at a different daycare but failed to drop his twins, Luna and Phoenix, off at theirs.
Juan told police that he did not realize the twins were still in the car until it was too late. “I assumed I dropped them off at daycare before I went to work,” Juan told the New York Post. “I blanked out! My babies are dead! I killed my babies!”
On Saturday, Juan appeared in court, visibly upset and shaking. He pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and was released on bail.
Juan’s wife and family have stood by him throughout the ordeal. “Though I am hurting more than I ever imagined possible, I still love my husband,” his wife, Marissa, said. “He is a good person and great father and I know he would’ve never done anything to hurt our children intentionally. I will never get over this loss and I know he will never forgive himself for this mistake. This was a horrific accident, and I need him by my side to go through this together.”
Though the investigation into the incident continues, prosecutors announced late last week that they have decided against presenting evidence to the grand jury at this time.
Juan’s attorney told Good Morning America, “We understand that they will continue to evaluate all aspects of the case and we welcome their evaluation of that. We believe that at the conclusion of them evaluating all the facts, all the evidence and everything in this case, they will come to the conclusion that this was a horrible tragedy.”
The Rodriguez family said their final goodbyes to their twins over the weekend at a funeral service held in the Hartsdale, New York.
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