A 3-year-old toddler, named Myles Hill, was found dead on Monday night after spending the whole day inside a hot van. The child was accidentally left inside the vehicle by an employee of Little Miracles Academy, a Day Care Center in Orlando. The employee’s name remains undisclosed by the police.
The child’s lifeless body was discovered on the floor of the van by a day care center employee. John Mina, the police chief in Orlando, said in a statement, “This is an absolute tragedy that could have been prevented,” cited in a report from USA Today.
Myles would have been 4 years old this month.
The neglected 3-year-old child
According to reports, the toddler was supposed to have been taken to another day care center, also owned by Little Miracles Academy, on Monday morning. However, the driver of the van failed to notice that he had left the child inside the van and returned to the day care center where they came from.
When Myles was not brought home to his grandmother that night, the guardian called Little Miracles Academy to ask where her grandchild was. An employee of the day care center checked the vehicle to see if the child was there and saw him on the floor, after which the police were called and arrived at 8:30 p.m.
The child reportedly spent 11 hours inside the van under a 93-degree sun.
Police are still waiting for the results of the autopsy to determine the cause of death, but it was quite clear that the child died due to the extreme heat inside the vehicle.
Authorities are preparing criminal charges against the day care driver.
The driver wasn’t authorized to operate the vehicle
The state has specific requirements for a day care employee is allowed to drive a vehicle, and the erring driver has not met any of the requirements
According to the reports, a driver must have a doctor’s clearance of excellent health, in addition to first aid training including CPR.
It was later found out that the state considered Little Miracles Academy not in compliance back on July 11 because the day care has failed to include information about the children’s arrival and departure. The driver also failed to conduct a head count of the children on that fateful day.
On March 6, Little Miracles Academy was determined to be non-compliance due to the fact that there was no adult supervision during children’s nap time and no attendance was ever taken.
A makeshift memorial has been created on Tuesday night by family members and the community to honor the child’s passing.
