Man charged over daughter's hypothermic death

Story here. This is one to keep an eye on. The issue here is equal treatment under the law. Had the father been the mother, would she be facing these charges? I doubt it. Still, there strikes me as being a strong element of negligence here, unless there are salient facts missing from the story. I am curious to know the more of the circumstances around events. If I get wind of updates or "new news", I'll post, and feel free to submit if you spot anything. Excerpt:

'A father charged with the hypothermic death of his daughter cried and banged his head against a table Monday in a Shoshone courtroom after a judge read out each charge against him.

Robert E. Aragon, 55, is accused of felony injury to a child and second-degree murder, after two of his children tried to walk nearly 10 miles on their own through feet of snow and freezing temperatures on Christmas to see their mom.

Aragon's family says he's a loving father who shouldn't be in jail for the tragedy.
...

Quintana also said he thought Jenks was going to retrieve the children and thought Aragon and Jenks had coordinated that plan over the phone.

"We thought their mother was going to meet up with the children," Quintana said. "Where was she? How were we supposed to know she wasn't coming?"

But Jenks told the Times-News she disagrees, adding Monday she didn't have a car. "They didn't even call me, telling me they were walking," she has said.

Lincoln County authorities also say the road was undriveable due to snow drifts, according to court papers.
...
Quintana says he and Aragon searched and yelled out for the children for at least four hours, with towels wrapped around their heads, but they stopped as hypothermia set in. He said he had no cell phone reception in the search area.

'They found her (Sage Aragon) a mile and a half from where I turned around," Quintana said. "If we had kept going, we could have gotten her in time. I just couldn't go anymore, I was so tired. The whole time, we were yelling for the children, our eyes and throat were wind burnt."'