Police look into possible crime
A 2-year-old boy died in a day care’s hot van Monday — and now detectives are investigating whether that was manslaughter.
A 2-year-old boy died in a day care’s hot van Monday — and now detectives are investigating whether that was manslaughter.
Broward sheriff’s investigators wasted no time treating the death of Noah Sneed as a possible crime: They listed it as a manslaughter case in search warrants filed this week. Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein authorized them to search Ceressa’s Daycare & Preschool and the white 2006 Ford E-350 van, where a worker found Noah’s body late Monday afternoon.
The court documents don’t indicate who is facing the possibility of a criminal charge.
Across the U.S., there is a wide variance in whether child cardeath cases result in criminal charges, but it’s common for some people to be charged with manslaughter of a child.
This past week in New York, a father was facing charges that include manslaughter after his twin toddlers died in a hot car. The twins died Friday in the Bronx after their dad forgot them in the back seat, authorities said.
Two years ago in South Florida, a former day care operator from Sunrise was sentenced to prison for manslaughter of a child after a boy died in 2012 from being left in a sweltering SUV. Two others also charged in that case were sentenced to serve probation, records show.
In Noah’s death, the deputies reported recovering vehicle registration information, insurance cards, records about children who were picked up and dropped off, and employee files.
They also found DNA samples taken from a “side door interior” of the van, along with photo
graphs and described.
Under Florida law, a person can be convicted of manslaughter of a child if prosecutors can prove the death resulted from an act of “culpable negligence.”
The charge is a first-degree felony, punishable by 30 years in prison.
Broward County’s Child Care Licensing and Enforcement section has shut down the center videos that were not while Noah’s death is being investigated.
According to Kids and Cars, a nonprofit that tracks hot car deaths, 24 children have died this year after being left in a vehicle. On hot days, the temperature inside a car or van can easily climb to over 120 or 130 degrees.
Last year, according to Kids and Cars, there were 53 such deaths across the country. This year, including Noah, there have been 24.
“I just want justice for my baby, that’s all,” Noah’s mother, Chanese Sneed, said at a vigil earlier this week.