EMBED >More News Videos Constable Alan Rosen says the death of a 3-year-old boy left in a hot daycare bus was completely preventable.
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A 3-year-old boy who was left behind in a hot day care van after a field trip has died in northwest Harris County.The Precinct 1 Constable's Office says the child was found unresponsive in the van around 7 p.m., when his father arrived at Discovering Me Academy in the 8000 block of Antoine to pick up his son."The next thing I know, a few hours later the dad and the owner came out and was crying," said Kenneth Brooks, an eyewitness. "When EMS had him, he was just limp, you know. Right there, I knew the kid was gone. It's a sad day."Two people -- the driver and a chaperone -- were detained for questioning.Constable Alan Rosen says the child was among a group of 28 children who participated in a field trip on Thursday. Rosen's office says records show the boy had been listed as accounted for on a list of students compiled upon a return to the day care. An investigation is underway into the tragic oversight.Deputy constables said it appeared the child was left in the vehicle for at least four hours. Temperatures inside reached at least 113 degrees, Rosen said.When EMS workers arrived, they began to work on the child. He was transported to the hospital, where the boy was later pronounced dead."It seems to me this was just gross negligence," Rosen said. "It's just tragic."Rosen says the death was completely avoidable, and vowed to get "all the answers" for the family about how the tragedy occurred.The victim has not been named."I can't fathom being a father and losing a child like this, and so our prayers and thoughts are with this family," said Rosen.According to records, the daycare was cited for several violations involving their van in 2015. One violation included not having an electronic child safety alarm, which is used to notify a driver that a child was left in the vehicle.The daycare was also cited for not reporting a wreck involving the van in a timely manner, and for a driver not knowing the number of children in her group.
Taylorbobaylor on July 20th, 2018 at 05:01 UTC »
When I was 5 I got locked in a daycare van and forgotten about. I waited for about 5 minutes expecting them to come get me when they realized I was gone, but they never did. I had to figure out how to unlock the van and let myself out and walk across the parking lot. When I got inside they got upset with me and were asking me why I wasn’t up front and not in my class. Because you left me in the van???? Also it was summer and I live in Texas.
TheRealJessie on July 20th, 2018 at 03:07 UTC »
Former bus driver here- we specifically had a procedure that we had to walk through the bus in order to put a flag up in the rear window when the bus was returned to the bus barn and if you didn't, you could/probably would be fired.
kingtz on July 20th, 2018 at 01:40 UTC »
This daycare appears to have had other (more minor) violations in the past. Time to shut this place down.