*New York City prosecutors said they would not pursue a grand jury indictment — for now — against the dad whose twin babies died after he left them in a hot car all day.
Juan Rodriguez appeared in Bronx criminal court for a brief hearing this week, during which prosecutors told a judge that there has been “no grand jury action” taken at this time.
Bronx District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Patrice O’Shaughnessy told The Post, “We’re still investigating.”
Rodriguez, who is out on $100,000 bail, has been charged with two counts of manslaughter and two counts of criminally negligent homicide in the July 26 deaths of 1-year-olds Luna and Phoenix. Meanwhile, the mother of the children has vowed to stand by her husband.
Marissa A Rodriguez says the infants’ deaths were “my absolute worst nightmare.”
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Juan Rodriguez pleads not guilty to charges for the deaths of his one-year-old twins, left in his hot car for hours. Prosecutors say Juan Rodriguez cried, “I killed my babies,” after discovering them Friday afternoon. He told cops he thought he dropped them off at daycare. pic.twitter.com/xB0bv1uDNF
— Amanda Bossard (@amandabossard) July 28, 2019
In a statement released by her lawyer, she said: “Though I am hurting more than I ever imagined possibly, 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,” the New York Times reported.
Rodriguez was arrested and charged last Friday. The New York native told officers he thought he had dropped his children off at day care before he went to work.
“I killed my babies!” he reportedly screamed as he discovered their lifeless bodies inside his Honda Accord, frothing at the mouth, police sources told The Post. “I left them in the car!”
Juan, a clinical social worker, left his two children in his car for eight hours while he went to work at the Bronx VA hospital. Prosecutors have indicated that charges against Rodriguez may be reduced or dropped. If the case is presented, a grand jury could indict the Iraq war veteran.
Prosecutors have six months to present a case.
“We understand that they will continue to evaluate all aspects of the case and we welcome their evaluation of that,” said defense attorney Joey Jackson after Thursday’s hearing. “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.”
Rodriguez is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 27 for another hearing.
Today there will be a funeral for 1-year-old twins who died after their father left them in a car, apparently by accident. Juan Rodriguez is charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and endangering the welfare of a child. There’s been 24 hot car deaths this year. pic.twitter.com/DwbmByS2hs
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) August 2, 2019
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