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Sheriff: Mom 'Intentionally' Left Toddlers Who Died In Hot Car, Ignored Cries

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — A 19-year-old Texas mother whose two toddlers died when she left them for hours inside a hot vehicle while she visited friends has been charged with child endangerment.

Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer says Amanda Hawkins was arrested in San Antonio Thursday and is being held on $70,000 bond.

Investigators believe Hawkins intentionally left her daughters in the vehicle in Kerrville from Tuesday night until midday Wednesday, when temperatures were in the 80s. The girls, 1-year-old Brynn Hawkins and 2-year-old Addyson Overgard-Eddy, died in a San Antonio hospital Thursday. Hierholzer says autopsies have been ordered.

Hierholzer told CBS affiliate KENS some witnesses told police they could hear the children crying outside and told Hawkins to bring them in, but "she didn't want to."

Magistrate records list no attorney to comment on Hawkins' behalf.

Hierholzer says Hawkins told doctors that the girls collapsed while smelling flowers.

Kerrville is 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of San Antonio.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.

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