Records: Safety alarm turned off before child died in hot van

‘Driver did not follow correct procedures,’ report states

OAKLAND PARK — A 2-year-old boy, left alone in a sweltering van, died after his driver turned off a safety alarm that might have saved the child’s life.

The driver disabled the alarm, and Noah Sneed was left in the van for about five hours, says a county report released Wednesday.

The driver, whose name is excluded from the report, parked the white Ford E-350 Super Duty van at 9:30 a.m. July 29 and walked around the outside of the van to the back to turn off the safety alarm, she told investigators.

Then, she allowed the children off the van at the Ceressa’s Enrichment and Empowerment Academy in Oakland Park.

The driver was supposed to inspect each seat before turning off the alarm, the report says. The alarm is activated once the ignition is turned on, and blares — at a sound that could be heard for 500 feet — within one minute until it’s turned off.

“The driver did not follow the correct procedures for operating the alarm,” the report said.

Noah appeared to have died amid the heat, on a summer day that saw the temperature in the 90s. The Broward sheriff’s office is investigating his death as possible manslaughter. A spokeswoman

for the state attorney’s office said Wednesday the case has not yet been presented to the office from detectives.

Noah was not in a car seat, required by law for kids under age 3, the report says. He was strapped into a seat belt when his body was found.

The school’s owner, Lakeila Glennis Harris, could not be reached for comment. A woman reached at her phone number hung up on a reporter. A call went to Harris’s voicemail on a second attempt.

A woman who answered the phone connected to a second officer at the school, Angela Elouidor, also hung up on a reporter Wednesday. A man who answered a second call said they had no information.

The day care, at 3140 NW 21st Ave., was shut down after Noah’s death by the county’s Child Care Licensing and Enforcement division.

Earlier this week, Harris voluntarily surrendered the school’s license, according to William Karp, division manager.

“It’s permanently closed,” he said.

The day care had been fined twice in 2010 and again in 2017, records show.

On Friday, the county issued the school a notice of violation for failing six standards; five of them could have fines as high as $500.

“Even though they are no longer operating, the fines will be imposed,” Karp said.

A spokeswoman for the Broward sheriff’s office said she was not available to comment Wednesday.