Portales child left in hot car dies

Second child in critical condition; day care workers face charges

PORTALES — Authorities in Portales say two in-home day care workers who are mother and daughter have been arrested on suspicion of child abuse after two young children were left in a hot car for about 90 minutes following a trip to the park. One child is dead and the other is in critical condition.

Police say officers responding to a report that two children were having seizures at the home day care Tuesday afternoon discovered that the girls were not breathing and began lifesaving measures.

Police did not release the children’s ages, but family members told a reporter with the Eastern New Mexico News that Maliyah Jones, who was 22 months old, died at Roosevelt General Hospital. According to court records, the newspaper reported on its website that Aubrianna Loya, whose age was listed as under 3, was transferred to a Lubbock hospital.

Mary E. Taylor, 67, the owner of Taylor Tots, and her daughter, 31-year-old Sandi Taylor, were arrested and jailed on suspicion of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm and child abuse resulting in death. It was not immediately known if they had attorneys.

The two were being held in the Roosevelt County jail awaiting a bond hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Mary Taylor had been a licensed group home child care provider overseen by the state Children, Youth and Families Department since late 2013, according to the agency, which is conducting a full review of the provider’s history. It had a capacity to serve a dozen children.

An inspection conducted in August 2016 found the day care was in compliance, with an inspector noting “keep up the great work!” in the written report available online.

Children, Youth and Families Department spokesman Henry Varela said Taylor’s license was revoked after Tuesday’s incident.

“This is a heartbreaking tragedy and our hearts go out to the families of these children,” Varela said. “There’s no excuse for leaving children unattended in hot cars. The providers have both been arrested and we are working closely with law enforcement on this case.”

Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover said police believe the two young children were left in the vehicle after one of the workers returned from taking six children to a park.

Stover told the Eastern New Mexico News that Sandi Taylor told officers she intended to return to the car immediately to get the two girls after taking four others inside, but she got distracted.

“They put the children down for naps and did not notice the two missing at the time,” Stover told the news site. “Later, they realized it and found the children and began to attempt lifesaving procedures and called 911.”

The high temperature in the Portales area Tuesday was 95 degrees.

National statistics show that about 37 children die each year in the U.S. from heatstroke after being left in a car.

Such deaths are not common in New Mexico. Paul Rhien, a spokesman for the state Health Department, said two children died in the state between 2006 and 2015 after being left in a hot car.

But for Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars. org, that’s too many deaths. Fennell issued an email late Tuesday, saying, “Tragically, another baby died in a hot car today and this time it was in Portales, NM. This is the 27th U.S. child that has died this year due to heatstroke in a vehicle.”

She added, “New Mexico ranks 27th in the nation in these preventable tragedies with 10 fatalities from 1997-2012.”

Fennell’s organization is pushing for passage of federal legislation that would require vehicles to be equipped with child safety alert systems.

“Let’s hope that the Hot Cars Act of 2017 can be passed quickly so technology can be added to vehicles to help prevent these unthinkable fatalities,” Fennell said.