NYC Prosecutors to Decide Whether to Charge Dad of Twins Left in Hot Car

The Bronx father accused of leaving his 1-year-old twins to die in a car on a hot summer day is expected to soon find out if the criminal case against him will move forward.

Juan Rodriguez, who left his babies in a car in a parking lot when he went to work July 26 as temperatures soared, didn’t face any grand jury action in the case but the legal proceedings are not yet over. As discussions with the district attorney’s office continues Thursday, Rodriguez says he is supporting a new safety proposal uncovered by NBC New York’s I-Team.

The new bill, introduced in the State Assembly, would require child care centers to alert parents within one hour when children are not dropped off as planned.

Rodriguez says he “blanked out” when he forgot to drop the babies off at day care in Yonkers. Eight hours later they were found dead in Rodriguez’s parked car in the Bronx.

The father could face manslaughter charges, awaiting a determination by Bronx prosecutors.

Rodriguez’s lawyer Joey Jackson tells the I-Team: “While Juan and Marissa are not blaming their day care center at all for this horrific tragedy, they do believe that such a proposal can potentially save countless lives of children in the future. Any new law that is geared toward protecting children, as here, is one that has their full support.”

Jackson also wants the case dropped.

Rodriguez has been out on bail since his twins Phoenix and Luna died. The father, who has three other children, including a 4-year-old boy, “has been extremely transparent” about what happened, Jackson said.

When the children were found, a sobbing Rodriguez told investigators he “blanked out, my babies are dead, I killed my babies” when he forgot them in the car that day in July.