SHARE

Mom Talks About Twins' Hot-Car Deaths With Dr. Phil

For the first time since her 1-year-old twins died in a hot car in July, the Hudson Valley mother of the infants tells her tragic story on national TV.

The family together before the tragic event.

The family together before the tragic event.

Photo Credit: GoFundMe

Rockland resident Marissa Rodriguez, 37, of New City, will appear on the Dr. Phil show, at 3 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 14, on WCBS-TV Channel 2. The program will air again at 8 p.m. on WLNY-TV 10/55.

The twins, Phoneix and Luna, died after their father, Juan Rodriguez, drove to his job on July 26, at the Veterans Administration hospital in the Bronx, and forgot to drop the infants off at their daycare in Yonkers.

Rodriguez, 39, and an Iraq War veteran discovered the twins when he was driving home, dead in the back seat of his Honda.

Seconds later he was seen screaming on the side of the roadway that he had killed his twins. 

Speaking for the first time since making a statement after the deaths, in which she said she stands by her husband, Marissa can be seen on a clip from the show at drphil.com, telling Dr. Phil McGraw: "I have been so angry," she said. "I just couldn't understand how it happened."

"I don't want to be here," she added. "I don't want this to be my story."

Juan Rodriguez was arrested after the incident and was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and endangering the welfare of a child. He has been free on $100,000 bail.

In the past months, the family has been waiting for Bronx prosecutors to decide whether they will seek an indictment against him. 

His next court date is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 5.

The show says Marissa will explain why she is standing by her husband and reveals what she wants all parents to learn from her tragedy.

to follow Daily Voice Suffolk and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE