New Mexico day care workers’ convictions reversed in 2017 death of toddler inside hot car

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday granted a new trial for two day care workers in the 2017 death of a 1-year-old girl left in a hot car and the serious injury of another toddler.

The high court said in a news release that it reversed the child abuse convictions of Mary Taylor and her adult daughter Sandi Taylor after it found that the jury was given a set of confusing instructions at their joint trial in 2019.

Attorneys listed in court records for the mother and daughter did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

The Taylors, both of Portales, New Mexico, operated a licensed day care center in their home. Each was sentenced to 36 years in prison for reckless child abuse but were released from custody in 2020 as they appealed their convictions.

In July 2017, the Taylors drove a group of children to a nearby park for lunch and playtime. Two of the children, both girls younger than 2, were left in the hot car for nearly three hours, authorities said.

The high temperature in Clovis near Portales was 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) that day.

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