6-year-old girl dies after being left in hot daycare van, family says

CORDOVA, Tenn. (WMC/Gray News) – A 6-year-old girl died after being left behind in a hot daycare van, family members said.

Officers with the Memphis Police Department found Winter Jones unresponsive at Kid University just after 3:15 p.m.

The girl’s family said she was taken to the emergency room, where she was pronounced dead.

Winter’s uncle, Christopher Jones, said she was nonverbal and autistic and unable to alert anyone that she had been left in the van.

“So… she really couldn’t let anybody know that she was still on the bus,” Jones said. “She couldn’t advocate for herself at all.”

Forecasters with the Action News 5 First Alert Weather team said the temperature outside was 97 degrees when Winter was discovered in the van.

Dr. Rudy Kink, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, said vehicle interior temperatures can rise to lethal levels within minutes.

“With the car out in the direct sun at 97 degrees, the temperature can increase exponentially over minutes to where the temperatures can become deadly… 120, 140 degrees… it takes no time, especially with the windows up,” Kink said.

The Department of Children’s Services confirmed the agency is involved in the investigation. The Kid University website was suspended Thursday night.

Kid University did not respond to a request for comment.

Tennessee daycare centers are required by law to use monitoring devices, perform bus checks and maintain daily logs of those checks.

According to the nonprofit Kids and Car Safety, at least 18 children have died in hot cars nationwide this year, before Winter’s death. Her death brings that number to 19.

Winter is the third child in Tennessee to die after being trapped in a hot car this year. The second death happened just days ago, during this same heat wave. The first was reported in April.

“It hurts me to know that my little six-year-old niece is no longer here — physically at least. But it really hurts me to see my brother in so much pain. It really does,” Jones said. “This didn’t have to happen.”