Dad Who Left Kids In Hot Car Not Yet Indicted, Bronx DA Says

THE BRONX, NY — A Bronx grand jury has yet to indict a dad accused of killing his kids by leaving them in a hot car, prosecutors say.

The case against the man, Juan Rodriguez, has not gone before a grand jury as prosecutors continue to probe what happened, said Denisse Moreno, a spokesperson for Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark's office.

"The case is still pending and we’re still investigating," Moreno said Thursday.

Authorities say Rodriguez left his one-year-old twins in the back seat of his car for eight hours last Friday on West Kingsbridge Road, causing their body temperatures to hit 108 degrees. He's charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of a child.

Rodriguez told cops that he thought he dropped the kids off at daycare before heading to work that morning, a criminal complaint in the case says.

"I blanked out, my babies are dead, I killed my babies," he told police, according to the complaint.

Rodriguez's defense attorney, Joey Jackson, reportedly said he's hopeful that prosecutors will dismiss the case. The dad "has nothing to hide except misery and sorrow," the lawyer told the New York Daily News.

"We believe at the conclusion of them evaluating all the facts, all evidence and everything in this case, they will come to the conclusion that this is a horrible tragedy," Jackson said, according to the New York Post.

Rodriguez is due back in court Aug. 27.