SAN ANTONIO – A 19-year-old mother in Kerr County has been charged in the death of her two little girls, who investigators say were left in a car for more than 15 hours.
Brynn Hawkins, 1, and Addyson Overgard-Eddy, 2, died Thursday at University Hospital.
Miriam Davis said she remembers the girls well.
“Addy was so helpful. She would like to go get you things and bring ‘em to you,” Davis said. “Brynn was just learning how to walk and she was toddling all over the place.”
Davis has known the children’s mother, Amanda Hawkins, since middle school.
“We both had kids, and it was nice to hang out,” Hawkins said.
Davis said she stopping hanging out with Hawkins about a month ago because she was concerned how Hawkins treated her children. Davis even considered calling Child Protective Services.
“I guess I just hesitated for so long. I didn't want her kids to be in the system, but I didn't know they would die if they didn't,” she said.
Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer said Hawkins and a 16-year-old male friend went to another friend’s house on Tuesday night. He said Hawkins left her two daughters in the car.
“One of them even told her they could hear the kids crying out in the car and told her to bring them in. And she said, 'No, they're fine. They'll cry themselves to sleep,’” Hierholzer said.
For more than 15 hours, the girls stayed in the car until about noon on Wednesday.
They took the kids in the house, tried to bath them. The kids were, from what I understand, pretty well unconscious,” Hierholzer said.
Hierholzer said friends convinced Hawkins to take the girls to Peterson Regional Medical Center in Kerrville.
The sheriff said Hawkins first claimed the girls were at Flat Rock Park smelling flowers and when they were about ready to go, one collapsed, followed shortly after by the other.
Investigators soon found out otherwise, but it was too late for the girls.
"Right around 5 o'clock yesterday evening, they had to take both kids off the ventilator and both kids died,” Hierholzer said.
Davis regretted never making the call to CPS.
“If anyone feels something's not right, they need to call CPS, because you don't want two kids to die. It's just not fair,” Davis said.
Hawkins faces two charges of abandoning and endangering. Now that the girls have died, those charges may be upgraded.
--------------------------------------------------------
Don't miss a thing. Get email alerts from KSAT 12 today.
Get alerted to news events as they happen or sign up for a scheduled news headline email that is delivered right to your inbox. Breaking news, severe weather, daily forecasts, entertainment news, all of the day’s important events to keep you up to date wherever you are.
Sign up today. It's Free.