Daycare worker accused in hot car death of 4 year old pleads guilty

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — One of the two women accused in the hot van death of 4-year-old Logan Urbina pleaded guilty on Monday.

Karen Silva went before 445th District Court Judge Gloria Rincones. Silva pleaded before the court without a plea bargain. Her punishment phase is set for Nov. 20.

On Oct. 1, Silva, along with Sendy Ruiz, was formally charged with injury to a child, elderly or disabled individual with reckless serious bodily injury and mental impairment.

Logan Urbina, according to a previous ValleyCentral report, was found inside a daycare van during the summer following a field trip.

According to documents obtained by ValleyCentral, on June 27, the Learning Club Pre-School took the students on a field trip to Los Fresnos.

The van, which was directly controlled by Ruiz and Silva, departed from the daycare center at 8:30 a.m. The field trip had ended at approximately 11 a.m. According to the documents following the field trip, the women transported 24 children, including Logan Urbina.

Out of the 24 children who went on the field trip, 15, including Urbina, were placed in a 2018 Ford Transit Van and were brought back to the daycare after the field trip. They arrived back at the Learning Club Pre School at about 11:30 a.m.

According to the documents, at approximately 4:30 p.m., staff members from the Learning Center Pre School realized that Urbina was missing. Silva and a second witness decided to go outside and check the van, where they found Urbina, who was unresponsive.

Silva and the witness removed Urbina from the van, and another witness began to perform CPR on the child.

At approximately 4:56 p.m., Brownsville PD and EMS responded to an emergency call at the Learning Club Pre School. At the scene, authorities found Urbina’s body inside a daycare van, unresponsive, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ruiz cooperated with the police and provided a statement saying that she and Silva were in charge of the van. When they came back to the daycare, they did not realize that Urbina had not gotten out of the van.

Silva refused to speak to the police without her attorney present. She was arrested on June 27 and arraigned on June 28, according to previous ValleyCentral reports.

In August, she was issued a bond of $10,000 for injury to a child causing death, a second-degree felony. Shortly after the bond hearing, Silva was transferred to ICE custody for her immigration case.

Cameron County records indicate Silva is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 20.