Driver arrested in day-care death
The day care center where 3-year-old Myles Hill’s body was found in a minivan had its operating license revoked on Thursday, and the driver who transported the child was arrested, authorities said.
Attendance logs from the day care show Myles, who was locked inside the hot vehicle for 12 hours on Monday, was marked present that day, according to the Department of Children and Families.
Deborah Denise St. Charles, 51, now faces charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child, Orlando Police said. In addition to its license being revoked, Little Miracles Academy faces a fine of $2,750, DCF reported.
Myles’ great-aunt Barbara Livingston
said she was pleased to hear the day care was shut down and St. Charles was charged — but said it wasn’t enough.
“Others need to be held accountable,” she said. “She shouldn’t have to take the rap all by herself. It won’t bring Myles back, but it will prevent other day cares from being able to get away with things like this.”
Police said St. Charles picked up Myles at his grandmother’s house shortly after 7:30 a.m. Monday.
Brenda Watts, Myles’ grandmother and caretaker, signed responsibility of her grandson over to St. Charles, handed her a payment she owed, and sat Myles down next to two other children in the back row of the van, according to a police report.
St. Charles, who was supposed to drop Myles off at the Little Miracles Academy location at 2514 W. Colonial Drive, arrived at the facility and watched the other children leave the van.
According to the police report, St. Charles took cleaning supplies out of the back and handed some of them to the children, who left the vehicle before closing the van.
St. Charles failed to verify that all six children had gotten out of the van, according to an arrest affidavit. She then skipped a required head count, and Myles was left inside the hot minivan, where temperatures reached more than 140 degrees, the report said.
She handed over the payment, got back into the van and drove to the 900 Plymouth Ave. location.
St. Charles was on a phone call while she locked up her van for the day and went inside the day care center, with Myles still in the rear of the vehicle.
He was found after 12 hours exposed to the summer heat and locked inside the blue 2000 Honda Odyssey. The cause of death, which the Medical Examiner’s Office cited as an accident, was hyperthermia as a result of environmental exposure.
“This negligent act was committed with an utter disregard for the safety of the children she is responsible for,” the police report said.
St. Charles was booked into the Orange County Jail and held on a $30,000 bond.
DCF released reports Thursday showing owner Audrey Thornton and St. Charles violated several policies, including appropriate attendance recordkeeping; carrying car seats for children younger than 3; allowing an 11-year-old to sit in the front seat of the minivan; transporting more than five young children at a time; failing to conduct initial and secondary vehicle checks; and properly supervising Myles.
Thornton can choose to appeal the decision. Her lawyer could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.
According to DCF, St. Charles was not an approved driver on Little Miracles Academy’s roster after failing to pass transportation standards reviewed in July.
The center was previously cited by DCF in July for not keeping records of destination and arrival times and locations, along with not having a caretaker in sight when the children were napping and not keeping attendance records during a fire drill, DCF records show.
Transportation logs that police recovered from the day care did not include the driver’s signature verifying that all children had exited and did not include a required signature from a second employee confirming that a vehicle sweep was conducted.
Both of Little Miracles Academy’s facilities were shut down Wednesday.
Orlando police conducted a simulation to determine how hot the van had been when Myles was inside. An hour into the simulation, temperatures were at 115 degrees. The highest outside temperature recorded on Monday was 93 degrees.
“Myles suffered. He suffered for hours,” Livingston said. “Children shouldn’t have to lose their lives before people are held accountable and changes are made to make these day cares safe.”