KERR COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — A 19-year-old Texas mother is in jail accused of causing the death of her two daughters by leaving them in a hot car for more than 15 hours.

The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office says on Tuesday, June 7, Amanda Hawkins, along with a 16-year-old male, showed up at Peterson Regional Medical Center in Kerrville with her two daughters, Brynn Hawkins, 1, and Addyson Overgard-Eddy, 2. Hospital staff determined the children were in “grave condition” and transported them to University Hospital in San Antonio.

At the time, Hawkins told hospital staff she, her friend and her two daughters had been at a nearby lake smelling flowers when the children collapsed. An investigation revealed the two young girls had been left in their mother’s vehicle overnight on Monday, June 6 until noon the following day. Authorities say while her children were in the car for more than 15 hours, she was inside a home with her friends.

Once Hawkins discovered the girls, investigators say she tried to bathe them and did not “immediately want to take the girls to the hospital because she did not want to get in trouble.”

Even though hospital staff tried to save the baby and toddler, they both passed away Thursday afternoon.

“This is by far the most horrific case of child endangerment that I have seen in the 37 years that I have been in Law Enforcement,” said Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer in a statement.

Hawkins is currently in the Bexar County Jail in San Antonio awaiting transfer back to Kerr County. She is currently charged with two counts of abandoning or endangering a child but the sheriff says they expect the charges to be updated since the girls died.STORIES OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON

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