Mother, 20, pleads guilty after her toddler daughters died when she left them in a car for 15 hours

Amanda Kristene Hawkins, 20, whose two toddlers died after they were left for hours inside a hot vehicle has pleaded guilty

Two toddlers died after being left in a car overnight in Texas while their mother slept comfortably indoors at a friend’s house – and she’s admitted her guilt in court rather than go to trial.

The daughters of Amanda Kristene Hawkins, 20, were left inside her car for more than fifteen hours until the following lunchtime when it was discovered both were in serious condition and close to death as temperatures rose into the high 80s.

Hawkins appeared in court for the first day of her trial on Monday, and instead pleaded guilty to all the charges against her after the deaths of two-year-old Addyson Overgard-Eddy and one-year-old Brynn Hawkins.

Hawkins pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless injury to a child and two counts of abandoning or endangering a child. 

She faces a prison sentence of two to 20 years on each charge.

Investigators say Hawkins intentionally left one-year-old Brynn Hawkins and two-year-old Addyson Overgard-Eddy in her vehicle through the night

Investigators say Hawkins intentionally left one-year-old Brynn Hawkins and two-year-old Addyson Overgard-Eddy in her vehicle through the night

The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said that Hawkins initially took the girls to Kerrville hospital saying that they had collapsed while smelling flowers at a park.

The girls were later taken to a San Antonio hospital, where they died.

Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer said investigators determined that the children had been left ‘intentionally’ in their mother’s vehicle while she and some friends were inside a home for the night.

At one point a 16-year-old boy also slept in the car with the girls, and the next day went with Hawkins and the girls to the hospital. 

He said he was unaware the girls were in the car when he was. 

When the toddlers were found they were in ‘grave condition’ when they were finally taken to hospital 15 hours later. 

The girls were not removed from the car until midday by which time temperatures had risen into the high 80s while the girls were in the car

The girls were not removed from the car until midday by which time temperatures had risen into the high 80s while the girls were in the car

Hawkins apparently had warnings that all was not well with the girls after one person in the home could hear the the girls crying outside and asked if they should be brought in. 

Hawkins could receive up to 20 years in prison for each count

Hawkins could receive up to 20 years in prison for each count

‘She said, ‘No, they’ll cry themselves to sleep,” the sheriff said. 

When Hawkins found the girls unresponsive around noon, she first bathed them instead of calling an ambulence. 

She did not take them to the hospital immediately because she was ‘afraid of getting in trouble’, the sheriff’s office said.

Hierholzer said the girls’ deaths were ‘by far the most horrific case of child endangerment’ in his decades of law enforcement. 

Hawkins’ sentencing is scheduled for December where she could receive up to 20 years in prison for each count.

The girls had different fathers, neither of whom were present that night.  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk