08-03-2012, 08:46 AM
MiamiHerald.com
Broward authorities are investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy left in a sweltering SUV for more than two hours by the 20-year-old daughter of a Sunrise day-care operator.
Sources told The Miami Herald Thursday that the boy, Jordan Coleman, and seven other children had been taken to a Tamarac apartment complex by van on Wednesday, allegedly because the owner of 3C’s Day Academy was afraid that child-care-licensing administrators would visit and discover she was caring for more children than her license allowed.
The seven others were brought into a unit in the complex, but Jordan, for reasons that are unclear, was left in the van. The outside temperature was in the 90s at the time.
Day-care owner Cecily Roberts, 42, had been the subject of several troubling inspections by the Broward County Child Care Licensing office, and state child protection investigators had been seeking to shut down her home-based day care.
Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti, on vacation this week, confirmed that his agency was investigating the death of a 4-year-old who had been left in a van for about two hours, but he refused to discuss any details, such as whether the van was sealed.
“We’re waiting for the medical examiner to come back with a ruling. That’s why we can’t really say anything,” Lamberti said. “We don’t know if it was neglect or homicide.”
Jordan is the 16th child to die in an unattended hot car in the United States this year, according to KidsAndCars.org, a Kansas City advocacy group. Wednesday’s high in Broward was 91 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
![[Image: 5638782E.jpg]](http://photos.mycapture.com/MIAM/REMOTES/5638782E.jpg)
Broward authorities are investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy left in a sweltering SUV for more than two hours by the 20-year-old daughter of a Sunrise day-care operator.
Sources told The Miami Herald Thursday that the boy, Jordan Coleman, and seven other children had been taken to a Tamarac apartment complex by van on Wednesday, allegedly because the owner of 3C’s Day Academy was afraid that child-care-licensing administrators would visit and discover she was caring for more children than her license allowed.
The seven others were brought into a unit in the complex, but Jordan, for reasons that are unclear, was left in the van. The outside temperature was in the 90s at the time.
Day-care owner Cecily Roberts, 42, had been the subject of several troubling inspections by the Broward County Child Care Licensing office, and state child protection investigators had been seeking to shut down her home-based day care.
Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti, on vacation this week, confirmed that his agency was investigating the death of a 4-year-old who had been left in a van for about two hours, but he refused to discuss any details, such as whether the van was sealed.
“We’re waiting for the medical examiner to come back with a ruling. That’s why we can’t really say anything,” Lamberti said. “We don’t know if it was neglect or homicide.”
Jordan is the 16th child to die in an unattended hot car in the United States this year, according to KidsAndCars.org, a Kansas City advocacy group. Wednesday’s high in Broward was 91 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.