A routine food delivery stop in central Texas turned into a near-fatal emergency when a 3-year-old boy was found hanging by his neck from a car’s moonroof while his mother went inside a restaurant to pick up a DoorDash order. Police say the child survived after bystanders and first responders rushed to free him, and his mother now faces a felony charge accusing her of abandoning him in life-threatening conditions.
Investigators in Belton describe a scene that unfolded in minutes but could easily have ended in tragedy, highlighting the collision between app-based gig work, split-second parental decisions and the hidden dangers built into modern vehicles. The case has put a spotlight on how quickly a seemingly harmless choice to leave a child in a car can escalate into a criminal investigation and a broader public safety warning.
The Belton incident and the charge against Angela Celeste Moreno
Police in Belton say the crisis began at a restaurant along the 2800 block of North Loop 121, where a DoorDash driver parked her vehicle with her two young children inside before heading in to collect an order. According to investigators, 24-year-old Angela Celeste Moreno told officers she left the engine running and the moonroof open while she went to grab the food for delivery, a decision that prosecutors now argue created the conditions for her 3-year-old son’s neck to become trapped in the moving glass panel. The boy was discovered with his head and neck stuck in the opening, his body hanging outside the car and his torso pinned by the roof, while a younger sibling remained inside the vehicle, according to a detailed account from Belton police.
Officers and EMS responders were called to the scene after witnesses saw the child hanging from the moonroof and rushed to help. Police say the boy was unresponsive when they arrived, with visible injuries to his neck and chest, and that he needed emergency treatment before being transported to a hospital, where he was ultimately stabilized and survived. In a later summary of the case, investigators said Moreno had been working as a DoorDash driver that night and had left the children unattended while she went inside to retrieve the food order for delivery, a detail echoed in a separate account that described her as a gig worker who stepped away from the car to pick up a restaurant meal for delivery.
From near-fatal mishap to felony case in Texas
In the weeks after the incident, authorities in Texas moved from emergency response to criminal investigation, ultimately securing an arrest warrant that accused Moreno of abandoning a child with intent to return but under circumstances that could have resulted in serious bodily injury. Police say Angela Celeste Moreno, who lives in Belton, was taken into custody at about 7:30 p.m. and booked into the Bell County Jail, where records show she was held on a $50,000 bond. A separate summary of the case notes that she is 24 years old and that the charge stems directly from leaving the toddlers alone in the running vehicle while she went inside the restaurant to work her DoorDash shift, a sequence of events that investigators say directly preceded the child’s neck becoming trapped in the moonroof.
Accounts from Police describe how the 3-year-old apparently climbed up toward the opening while Moreno was inside the restaurant, then became stuck as the moonroof closed on his neck, leaving his body hanging outside the car and compressing his chest. One report notes that the child had visible bruising on his neck and injuries in the chest area consistent with being pinned by the glass and frame, and that he required hospital treatment before being released. Another account of the case, which refers to the boy simply as a Toddler, underscores that his neck was stuck in the moonroof while his mother was working DoorDash, and that she later faced a felony child endangerment charge after being booked into Bell County Jail, according to Texas police.
Gig work pressures, vehicle design and child safety warnings
For me, the Belton case sits at the intersection of three forces that parents increasingly navigate: the economic pressure that drives people into gig work, the design of modern vehicles with features like power moonroofs and keyless ignition, and the persistent temptation to treat a quick errand as too short to pose real danger. Reports on the case repeatedly emphasize that Moreno was working as a DoorDash driver in Texas when she left the children in the car, and that she told officers she intended to return quickly after picking up the food. Another account, which describes her as a Texas mom, notes that the boy nearly strangled himself with the car’s moonroof while she stepped away, and that he was treated and survived, a reminder that the outcome could easily have been worse.
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