Kerrville mom who left daughters in SUV, killing them, sentenced to 40 years

Amanda Kristene Hawkins, 19, was charged with two counts of child endangerment after her two daughters, ages 1 and 2, died June 8 after being left in her SUV for 15 hours in front of a friend's house in Kerrville. Hawkins was arrested in San Antonio and was transferred to the Kerrville jail Monday, June 12. less Amanda Kristene Hawkins, 19, was charged with two counts of child endangerment after her two daughters, ages 1 and 2, died June 8 after being left in her SUV for 15 hours in front of a friend's house in ... more Photo: Kerrville County Photo: Kerrville County Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Kerrville mom who left daughters in SUV, killing them, sentenced to 40 years 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

The Kerrville woman who left her two young daughters inside her SUV for several hours, killing them, was sentenced to 40 years in prison, the maximum penalty, according to Hill Country Breaking News.

Amanda Hawkins pleaded guilty to two charges of endangering a child and two charges of injury to a child in September. A judge sentenced her to 20 years in prison for each of the four charges, though the two sets of charges will be served concurrently.

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According to Hill Country Breaking News, the presiding judge said he would have sentenced her to more time in prison if he could have.

Officials said Hawkins left her daughters, 1-year-old Brynn Hawkins and 2-year-old Addyson Overgard-Eddy, in her SUV from 9 p.m. June 6 to noon the following day while she was inside a barn smoking marijuana with friends, the Hill Country Breaking News reported

According to authorities, Hawkins' friends were worried about the kids and asked her to bring them inside, but Hawkins declined, saying "They'll cry themselves to sleep."

Kevin Franke, 18, slept inside the SUV with the children because there was not enough room to sleep inside. The next morning, he rolled up the car's windows and turned off the engine before going back inside, authorities said. He claimed he didn't know the girls were in the car.

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The girls were discovered unconscious a few hours later. At the time, they were still alive, and Hawkins rushed them to a nearby hospital, claiming they had collapsed during an outing to a local park, authorities said. The girls died the following day at a hospital in San Antonio.

She and Franke were later arrested. Franke pleaded not guilty in April to two counts of manslaughter, two counts of injury to a child and two counts of child endangerment. Additionally, he was charged in July with two counts of murder. His trial is scheduled for January.

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Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com |

cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdowns