Ernestina Leon-Decastro
A Carson City baby sitter was sentenced Tuesday to 15 weekends in jail for leaving her two charges unattended inside a sweltering vehicle while she gambled.
Ernestina Leyva Leon-Decastro, 44, must also serve three years' probation, seek a mental-health evaluation, attend parenting classes and abstain from alcohol and gambling.
Judge Bill Maddox said he was inclined to give Leon-Decastro jail time, but he chose probation because she cares for her own 11-year-old daughter.
"You're just lucky those kids didn't die. Otherwise, we'd be sentencing you for murder," he said.
"She's admitted some bad judgment," said Defense Attorney Manuel Montelongo in asking for probation for his client. Despite Leon-Decastro's lack of criminal history, the Department of Parole and Probation recommended she serve a year on each charge.
Montelongo said his client never intended to leave the children in the vehicle, but had gone into the Silver Dollar Casino to speak with her sister and lost track of time.
He then noted Leon-Decastro admitted to a gambling problem, and Deputy District Attorney Anne Langer said when Leon-Decastro was arrested "she told police she'd done this on prior occasions."
In April, with the outside temperature registering at 73 degrees, two delivery men were leaving the casino when they heard children crying. Upon looking inside an SUV parked near their delivery truck, they saw a 19-month-old boy in a car seat covered in sweat and a 5-year-old girl suffering from a bloody nose and crying. The men were unable to open the locked doors and ran inside the casino to call police.
As they waited on officers, Leon-Decastro emerged from the casino, gave the children water and was attempting to leave when the men stopped her.
Temperature readings of the interior of the GMC Jimmy 20 minutes after the children were removed registered at 133 degrees. Investigators speculated the girl suffered the nose bleed because of the heat. It's believed the children were in the vehicle for about 30 minutes.
In other cases before Maddox on Tuesday:
• Oscar Mendoza-Loreto, 24, pleaded guilty to felony attempt to possess personal identifying information of another to commit forgery. He allegedly used someone else's identifying information to open a checking account, obtain a car loan, and get employment. He will be sentenced Nov. 7.
• James Donald Smith, 38, pleaded guilty to theft. He allegedly broke into a coin machine in an apartment complex laundry room on North Saliman Road. He will be sentenced Nov. 7.
• Jason Wayne Bahnsen, 25, was sentenced to boot camp on a charge of principal to auto burglary.
• Roosevelt Blackburn Jr., 40, pleaded guilty to third-offense drunken driving. He will be sentenced Nov. 7.
• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.