A daycare employee charged in connection with the death of a 6-year-old girl who died after being left alone in a hot van reportedly told investigators she skipped a mandatory check of the vehicle because she was too warm to bother.
Tametria Norry, 49, has been indicted on charges including aggravated child abuse, criminally negligent homicide, and tampering with government records over the death of Winter Jones. Two other daycare workers, Sabrina Powe, 43, and Amilya Hardin, 21, are facing identical charges, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
The incident happened on Aug. 13 at Kid University in Cordova, Tennessee, a suburb just east of Memphis. Winter had been dropped off at the daycare that morning, and Norry, who drove the facility’s van, was supposed to later transport her to Macon-Hall Elementary School.
Norry did make the drive to the school that day, but records show she logged Winter as dropped off even though the girl had never actually left the vehicle. A report from the Tennessee Department of Human Services, obtained by NBC affiliate WMC, said Winter, who was nonverbal and had autism, remained in the van the entire time.
Rather than being dropped off, Winter rode back to the daycare still inside the van, where it then sat outside in the heat. Outdoor temperatures that day reportedly climbed to at least 97 degrees.
Daycare staff didn’t discover the girl inside the van until roughly 2:30 that afternoon. First responders were called, but Winter was pronounced dead at the scene.
When questioned by investigators, Norry reportedly admitted she never physically checked the van afterward to confirm every child had gotten out, saying only that she was hot. According to WMC, the two other employees gave similar accounts, acknowledging they had signed off on a walkthrough log despite never actually inspecting the vehicle.
All three women were arrested and booked into jail before posting $50,000 bond each and being released. They’re due back in court on Oct. 30.
Winter’s family is reportedly also planning to pursue a civil lawsuit stemming from her death.
