According to the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office, Cristina Pangalangan was left to die inside a car by her own mother and her mother’s boyfriend.
Rita Pangalangan and Larry King are charged with Cristina’s murder, but they aren't in jail. They haven't even gone to trial.
For Cristina’s loved ones, it’s a source of pain and confusion. They want to know why, and what’s taking so long.
Late in the afternoon of August 5th, 2019, Colleton County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to a home on Lowcountry Highway, about 10 miles outside Walterboro.
According to Rita Pangalangan, she’d briefly gone inside the home of her boyfriend, Larry King, to retrieve a pack of cigarettes.
Rita Pangalangan told deputies she left her daughter, Cristina, inside her 2012 Volkswagen Jetta. But when Rita came back outside, she claims her car doors were locked with Cristina and the keys trapped inside.
By the time Rita said she and King were able to retrieve a spare set of keys and get Cristina out of the car, it was too late.
First responders said when they arrived, Cristina was out of the car but wasn’t breathing. They said she was “beyond help.”
Quickly, the story Rita Pangalangan and Larry King told investigators began to fall apart.
Three years ago, authorities say 13-year-old Cristina Pangalangan died under awful circumstances.
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