A 34-year-old man is in custody after leaving his infant son in his car. The 3-month-old boy later died, according to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office. 

According to the sheriff's office, deputies responded to Mission Regional Hospital at around 3:48 p.m. Saturday in reference to a child found unresponsive in a vehicle. Medical personnel confirmed the child's death.

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A witness said the child had been in the care of his father, Ricardo Mata. 

“Mata admitted to placing the child in the backseat of his vehicle and then going inside his residence to lie down,” a news release said. “He further stated that he had been drinking and forgot that the child was in the car.”

Mata was arrested and booked into the Hidalgo County jail Sunday on a charge of injury to a child causing death. He's expected to be arraigned on Monday afternoon. 

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A spokesperson for the Hidalgo County sheriff's Office confirmed to Channel 5 News that Mata is the same individual who was arrested in connection with a deadly October 2021 shooting in Mission.

According to previous reports, Mata was among the six individuals accused of being involved in a shooting on Oct. 14, 2021 at a Stripes store located at Farm-to-Market Road 492 and Highway 107.

According to a news release made at the time of the shooting, several witnesses said they saw several men armed with handguns fighting in the parking lot and heard multiple gunshots before the suspects drove away. 

Leonardo Veliz and Emmanuel Veliz were later found with gunshot wounds in a vehicle. Leonardo died while Emmanuel was hospitalized and survived. 

Court records indicate that Mata was charged with murder and attempt to commit capital murder of multiple persons. He was released on bond in February 2023 and is due back in court on those charges on July 2025. 

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