A Collin County jury has convicted 27-year-old Vanessa Esquivel of murder for the death of her 15-month-old son, sentencing her to 25 years in prison. The verdict was reached on June 19 regarding an incident that occurred on August 16, 2025, in Frisco, Texas.
Investigators determined that Esquivel left the toddler in a parked vehicle outside her place of employment for more than two hours. The car was situated outside the Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, where Esquivel was working. Police records indicate she worked a shift from approximately 1:45 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. that day. Weather data for Frisco showed temperatures reached 95 degrees on the date of the incident.
Esquivel initially provided conflicting accounts to law enforcement. She told officers she had been driving the child around because the vehicle's air conditioning was broken and denied going to work, claiming she stayed with her son all day. However, investigators contacted the spa and confirmed her employment shift. The business uses automatic recording for phone calls, which captured a conversation Esquivel had with a coworker the following day.
In the recorded call, Esquivel admitted she left the child in the car with the air conditioning running while she served two clients. She stated she was unable to find childcare and described her situation as being between a rock and a hard place. She told the employee that the child had died and acknowledged the incident was her fault, anticipating an arrest.
