A careless California dad has been charged in the death of his autistic 2-year-old son after driving the family car directly into floodwaters during a storm. The toddler drowned, authorities said Tuesday.
Brandon Padilla-Aguilera, 26, of Barstow, was driving the white sedan home from his grandmother’s funeral with his nonverbal little boy, Xavier, on September 18. The father allegedly made the fatal decision to attempt to plow across a flooded street.
The car quickly became flooded, and the panicked dad scrambled out with Xavier. However, the child was eventually torn from him by the rushing waters, according to authorities.
Padilla-Aguilera ended up on a patch of ground and was soon rescued, while Xavier’s body was found the next day in a flood control channel.
Last week, a month after the tragedy, Padilla-Aguilera was taken into custody. On Tuesday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department booked him on one count of suspicion of murder, according to a release from the Barstow Police Department.
“Over the course of the month-long investigation, detectives spoke with witnesses and gathered evidence,” the police said in a statement. “Based on evidence obtained, detectives secured an arrest warrant for him,” officials added.
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office later confirmed that Padilla-Aguilera was charged with one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/21/us-news/barstow-dad-who-drove-family-car-across-flooded-street-to-get-home-charged-when-son-drowns/