Driver arrested after leaving 1 year old in child care van for over 5 hours
The driver of a childcare van in Nebraska was taken into custody after a 1-year-old girl, left unattended in the vehicle for hours in extreme heat, was found dead. A statement from the Omaha Police Department indicated they were called to the daycare center on Monday afternoon regarding an “unresponsive child left in a van.”
A spokesperson for the Omaha Police said they suspect the toddler was in the vehicle for about five hours. She was rushed to the Nebraska Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. An official autopsy is still pending.
The child was identified as Ra’Miyah Worthington by her family on Tuesday. During a rally outside the childcare center, Kidz Of The Future Child Development Center II, the child’s mother, Sina Johnson, emotionally declared her love for Ra’Miyah and demanded justice.
“How could you forget her?” Johnson questioned. “You managed to get all the other children out of the van, so how did you forget mine?”
The weather on the day of the incident was exceptionally hot and humid, with the National Weather Service issuing a warning of “dangerous record-breaking heat.”
The driver, 62-year-old Ryan Williams, faces charges of child abuse by neglect resulting in death and is due for his first court appearance on Wednesday morning. His legal representation is currently unknown.
The daycare facility has been temporarily closed for an ongoing investigation, as confirmed by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
