The ex-husband of a Louisiana woman who allegedly left her 10-month-old daughter to die in a hot car last week said he reported her to police in 2016 for abusing their then-infant child.

Hannah Cormier, 32, claimed she accidentally left her daughter in the car for 90 minutes on Tuesday while working. Cormier was charged with second-degree murder — and her ex-husband, Nick Ashworth, told KLFY that Cormier had shoved their 4-month-old daughter’s head into a pillow to stop her from crying years before this deadly incident.

“No one ever believed me. Then the police reports were never to be found when I went to court. And then, now all of a sudden, they found them. This is pretty much helping the case,” said Ashworth, who has two other children with Cormier.

READ: Mom Charged With Murder in Infant Daughter’s Hot Car Death

Cormier’s daughter died a day after she was found in the hot car when temperatures reached 93 degrees. Jennings police chief Danny Semmes said forensic evidence recovered from Cormier’s phone and surveillance footage led to criminal charges in this case.

Cormier is also charged with cruelty to children. She remains jailed without bond.

Twenty-three children have died in hot cars this year, including Cormier’s daughter. According to No Heat Stroke, 29 children died of vehicular heatstrokes in 2023.

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[Featured Image:  Jeff Davis Parish Jail]