A 20-year-old mother from Texas has been sentenced to 40 years jail for leaving her two daughters in an increasingly hot car overnight while she partied. Two-year-old Addyson Overgard-Eddy and one-year-old Brynn Hawkins died on June 8, 2017, after their mother Amanda Kristene Hawkins left them inside a car while she smoked marijuana with a friend in a shed. She left the children in the car on June 6, 2017, around 9 pm and until the next day noon. Her daughters sat helplessly as the temperature rose, and were discovered in terrible condition 15 hours later.

Following the incident, Hawkins pleaded guilty of reckless injury to a child and abandoning or endangering a child, both two counts. Last week, a judge sentenced Hawkins to 40 years in prison. A 16-year-old at the party Kevin Frank slept in Hawkins' car with the girls as he did not want to sleep in the shed. He awoke at 8 a.m and told Hawkins he was leaving. Franke, is also charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty, his trial is scheduled for January. The girls who had different fathers were not present during the incident. US Mother Kills Two-Year-Old Son for Bedwetting, Sentenced to 40 Years Jail.

Authorities said that at some point when someone asked if the kids should be brought in as they were crying, she allegedly said, "No, they'll cry themselves to sleep". The prosecution said Hawkins awoke at noon, had sex, and found her daughters unconscious in the vehicle. Instead of rushing them to the hospital, she bathed them and put new clothes to avoid suspicion. The Kerr County Sheriff's Office said that She later took them to Kerrville hospital saying they fainted while smelling flowers at a park. The girls were later taken to San Antonio hospital on June 8, 2017, where they died.

Dr John Gebhart at the hospital said, "Brain swelling is what actually killed these kids." While Hawkins was told she could stay overnight, she preferred to spend the night at a hotel as it was more "comfortable". Gebhart said the girls' deaths were painful. They experienced sweating, cramps, breathing issues, seizures, terrible headaches and burning sensation throughout the body. During her sentencing, Hawkins said she was ready to "accept whatever the punishment may be." She further said, "There are no excuses for what I did. I do love them and care about them."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 18, 2018 05:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).