Veyo mom enters plea in toddler's hot-car death

VEYO — A southern Utah mother charged after her 3-year-old son died in a hot car last year has accepted a plea deal.

Celine Switlick, 30, pleaded no contest to a reduced charge.

Initially charged in 5th District Court in St. George with second-degree child abuse homicide, Switlick agreed to a third-degree felony charge of the same crime — accepting the conviction and sentencing, but not admitting guilt in the incident.

Investigators say the boy was accidentally left inside the family's minivan for about five hours on a 95-degree day in Veyo on Sept. 1, 2025.

Authorities say the vehicle's interior may have reached 130 degrees that day. Switlick later told investigators she forgot the child was in the vehicle and called 911 just after 6 p.m., when she and the boy's father realized he was missing.

She's scheduled to be sentenced in December.

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