Texas mom locked toddlers in hot car to punish them -- now they're dead

A 25-year-old Weatherford, TX woman is under arrest after she killed her children by locking them in a hot car for hours, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Cynthia Marie Randolph was arrested Friday by the Parker County Sheriff's Department for the May 26th death of her 2-year-old daughter and 16-month-old son who she locked in a hot vehicle on what was then the hottest day of the year.

Randolph told the police she was trying to teach the 2-year-old a lesson by locking her in the car with her brother. The children were found unresponsive and later died before medical personnel could save them.

Initially, Randolph tried to convince the police that the children had gotten locked in the vehicle of their own accord. After telling multiple conflicting versions of the story, she admitted she had imprisoned the children herself, went inside and smoked marijuana, then took a nap for "2 to 3 hours."

When she came back, the children were unconscious. In a panic, Randolph broke a window to make the scene look like an accident.

The Star-Telegram noted that temperatures inside a closed vehicle on a 95-degree day can soar upwards to 140 degrees. The website noheatstroke.org says humans enter heat stroke -- a potentially fatal condition -- at 104 degrees.

The state of Texas has had 121 heat-related deaths of young children left in vehicles since 1990, more than any other U.S. state, according to KidAndCars.org and Star-Telegram researchers.

Randolph is being held in the Parker County Jail. Her bond has not been set.

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