Child, 3, Left In Hot Daycare Van For Hours Dies

HOUSTON, TX – A 3-year-old boy is dead after being left on a daycare bus at the end of a field trip, investigators said. The child was found unresponsive inside the vehicle, where police recorded a temperature of 113 degrees, parked outside the daycare in the 8000 block of Antoine Drive Thursday evening.

The boy's discovery was made after his father arrived to pick him up about 6:30pm. Investigators believe the child was trapped inside the bus for nearly four hours in the height of the summer heat.

“It’s just tragic,” Constable Alan Rosen said in a statement Thursday.

Twenty-eight students from the “Discovering Me Academy” rode in the bus to Doss Park Thursday morning. They returned between 2:30 and 3:00 pm.

Daycare center records indicate the child had been accounted for by daycare staff members when the bus returned, investigators said. The driver of the bus and a chaperon who was on the field trip were questioned by deputy constables.

Afternoon temperatures in the Houston area have been near triple digits throughout the week, with the high reaching 96 degrees on Thursday.

In 2015, the daycare was cited for several safety violations, which included not having an electronic child safety alarm that notifies the driver when a child is left in a vehicle, KTRK reported. The daycare also was flagged for the driver’s failure to not properly account for the students on the bus and not report a traffic accident in a timely manner.

The case will be investigated by the Houston Police Department. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office will decide whether to file criminal charges in this case.

Meanwhile, Rosen reminds Houstonians to take steps on their own to avoid a similar tragedy, such as taking a look around their personal vehicle before leaving, placing an item in the backseat such as a wallet, purse or cell phone near the child so neither is left behind.

“Do something that always reminds you that you have a loving package in the backseat of that car,” Rosen said.

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