Man who forgot baby twins in hot car had called wife asking her to pick them from daycare
NEW YORK: There is no criminal case at this time against the Army veteran who accidentally left his one-year-old twins to die in his car on a hot day, a judge on Thursday, August 1, ruled.
According to NBC News, the criminal case against Juan Rodriguez is still active, but the prosecution has been paused as the Bronx district attorney (DA) decided not to put the case before a grand jury at this time, pending further investigation.
Rodriguez's attorney Joey Jackson said the investigation into the matter would continue as the DA decides whether or not to prosecute him over the tragic death of his son and daughter.
According to WABC, 39-year-old Rodriguez is due in court on August 27 for a decision on whether he will face criminal charges.
Last Saturday he was charged with two counts of manslaughter and two counts of criminally negligent homicide.
Rodriguez had forgotten his twin children - Phoenix and Luna - inside his hot Honda Accord while he worked an eight-hour shift at a Bronx Veterans Affairs hospital on Friday.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child.
Jackson said, "We're appealing to our sense of justice to do what we believe is the right thing and that is to dismiss these charges. 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."
According to an NYPD source, Rodriguez had believed that he had dropped his twins off at daycare and had even called his wife later to ask her to pick them up. However, by that point, the twins were already dead in the hot car. After Rodriguez left his workplace at the James J. Peters VA Hospital in the Bronx, he saw his kids in the rearview mirror and was overwhelmed with horror, shock, and grief. The source said, "This man made a terrible mistake. He thought his kids were in daycare but didn’t realize they were in the backseat until he glanced at his rearview."
Rodriguez's wife, Marissa, has vowed to stand by her husband and said in a statement, "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 I am hurting more than I ever imagined possible, I still love my husband. He is a good person and great father and I know he would've never done anything to hurt our children intentionally."
A GoFundMe account has also been set up to help support the family.