In 2014 Rita Pangalangan won the honor of Teacher of the Year at the Black Street Early Childhood

Center outside of Charleston, South Carolina.

Less than a decade later, Rita was on trial for murder. Rita's

13-year-old daughter Christina died in the same tragic way that's happened to

nearly 1,000 children since 1998.

She was left behind in a hot car. But according to what prosecutors presented in

court, the circumstances behind her death might just be more egregious

than most cases you'll ever hear about.

We hear stories about parents who forget their children in the back of the car, you know, in the middle

of a summer and something tragic happens. They may be the parent that doesn't normally

take the child to school and has to do it today you know

this particular day they forget the child in the back that go to work and

just forget the child that was not the situation we had here. Today I'm covering Rita

Pangalangan and her boyfriend Larry King's murder trial. I'll be skipping over some of the more

graphic details like testimony about the autopsy for instance or testimony from the first responders at the scene.

Instead, we'll focus on what the jury would have to decide.

The prosecution told them it was murder,

but the defense called it a tragedy, a terrible mistake.

This is Jillian in partnership with law and crime.

You are listening to Court Junkie, episode 267.

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