News

Mom Charged in Hot Car Death of Disabled Teen Daughter -- But Her Other Child Defends Her

NewsPublished Aug 12, 2019
By Genny Glassman
Hot car deathWCIV

Two adults have been arrested in South Carolina connection with the death of a 13-year-old girl with special needs, who died in a hot car August 5, according to police. Murder charges were leveled against the girl's mother, 49-year-old Rita Pangalangan, and the mother's boyfriend, 41-year-old Larry King, after both allegedly intentionally left her in a car and neglected to check on the girl for hours. Police say the girl was "incapable of taking care of herself."

The emergency call came in around 5 p.m., when police were alerted that a child was locked inside a car and was not breathing.

WPDE reports that Colleton County rescue crews arrived only eight minutes later, but it was already too late. When they got to the scene, Cristina Pangalangan had already been pulled from the car by a family member, but according to Colleton County Fire-Rescue Chief Barry McRoy, she was "beyond help" and pronounced dead.

The teen may have been left in the car alone for five hours on that hot afternoon, according to WCIV.

In the days following the incident, disturbing details have started to emerge about when and how Cristina became locked in the car in the first place.

According toABC News 4, Pangalangan and King admitted to placing Cristina in a car around 11 a.m. They left the disabled girl in the car until 4:15 p.m, only reportedly checking on her twice throughout the day -- once at 12:15 p.m. and not again until three hours later.

Pangalangan, who is reportedly an early education teacher, and King told police it was during that second check-in that they realized something was wrong -- and discovered the car was locked with Cristina trapped inside. At this point, they decided to leave their home, allegedly to get a spare set of keys. 

But the extra set of keys wasn't just around the block -- the couple were reportedly gone for more than an hour while Cristina was left alone in the vehicle. At 4:15, they finally returned and pulled her out of the car -- but by then, she was unresponsive and the pair dialed 911.

Police would not reveal if the air conditioning had been left on throughout the day, because the investigation is ongoing, but on the day that Cristina was trapped inside the car, temperatures soared between 88 and 91 degrees outside. The temperature inside the vehicle could have easily risen to about 130 to 135 degrees, experts say. Until an autopsy is performed, the county coroner could not reveal an official cause of death.

Cristina's mother and her boyfriend were arrested soon after the incident, though bail has yet to be set.

Although the couple appeared in bond court Tuesday, magistrates were unable to set bail amounts on the murder charges. Pangalangan and King will remain in jail until their formal arraignment, which will take place within the next 30 days.

Pangalangan, a teacher in the Colleton County School District, has been placed on paid administrative leave while the criminal investigation is ongoing. 

A representative for the Colleton County School District shared that Cristina had been an eighth-grade student at Colleton County Middle School and was a beloved classmate.

"Cristina truly enjoyed spending time with her classmates and loved to get attention," the representative shared. "She had a smile for all of the adults at school that worked with her, and her teachers described her as a very motivated student. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her."

Despite Cristina's death, one of Pangalangan’s daughters defended both her mom and King in court.

The unidentified daughter completely supports her mom, according to WCBC. "We will all stand behind her and we all love her. She was just a good mom,” she testified.

And she expressed similar support for King. “I wasn’t raised with him, but I know he loved my sister too,” she said.

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