The Broward Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy at a Tamarac apartment complex.
Jordan Coleman of Sunrise was found unconscious Wednesday afternoon in a hot day care SUV at the Versailles Gardens apartment complex at 7806 N. Colony Circle, the BSO said.
He was pulled from a 2002 Toyota Sequoia that belongs to the 3C's Day Academy of Sunrise at about 4:20 p.m. Tamarac Fire Rescue paramedics attempted to revive him, but the 4-year-old was pronounced dead at Broward Health Coral Springs hospital, the BSO said.
The Miami Herald reported that the child had been left in the sweltering SUV for more than two hours by the daughter of the operator of the day care center.
The 3C's Day Academy has been closed as BSO's Child Protective Investigations Section investigates Jordan's death and the safety of the other children at the day care, the agency said.
"We just lost our baby, our little angel. Unfortunately a tragic loss – and we are all hurting very deeply," family member Cynthia Coleman said.
According to the Herald, the young boy and seven other children were taken to the apartment complex by the 20-year-old because the day care owner was afraid child care licensing administrators would see she was caring for more children than her license allowed.
But when they got to the complex, the 4-year-old was left in the car with outside temperatures in the 90s while the other children were brought to a unit, the report said.
"Words can’t express what we just experienced, and my little grandchild, my granddaughter who was with him, she saw the whole thing," Coleman said.
The BSO said that an autopsy was conducted Thursday, but the cause and manner of Jordan's death have not been determined. Detectives said they will continue to investigate how he was left unattended in the hot vehicle and the circumstances that led to his death.
Miyshi Adnew said she saw Jordan lying on the ground and tried to save him.
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"We both just started doing CPR on the boy until the paramedics came," she said.
The owner of 3C's Day Academy, 42-year-old Cecily Roberts, has been cited three times since 2010 for running an over-capacity facility and twice for leaving infants and toddler in the care of her daughter, who doesn't meet the age requirement for supervising a child-care center, the Herald said.
A woman who answered Roberts' phone Friday morning said Roberts was unavailable for comment.
No one answered the door of 3C's Day Academy, which is a home-based day care, when a NBC 6 reporter knocked on it later in the day.
3C's Day Academy has also been reported to the Department of Children and Families on three occasions, including once for improper supervision of children, the Herald reported.
DCF spokesman Joe Follick referred questions about the case to the BSO, which handles child protective investigation work in Broward, and the county, which performs child care licensing.
"We are working very closely with our partners to make sure that these children are safe and that anyone who has committed a crime is held responsible to the fullest extent of the law," Follick said in a statement. "This tragic case serves as a dark reminder of the dangers of leaving a child unattended for any amount of time in a vehicle. It is also a sad reminder that parents should fully investigate the background of day care facilities."
He said information on child care licensing and a list of licensed facilities can be found here.
Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti told the Herald that they're waiting for the medical examiner to determine how the child died.
"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."
