The owner of a Homestead day care that is under investigation after a 22-month-old child was found dead is closing the center until the case is resolved.
Dominicue Andrews' body was found Tuesday near a van outside the Jomiba Learning Center on Krome Avenue.
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On Thursday night, family and friends gathered at the spot he was found for a memorial service. Local 10's Ross Palombo received a letter signed by owner Misael Ramos. In it, Ramos wrote that the center would voluntarily shutdown until the investigation was concluded.
Earlier Thursday, the family filed a wrongful death lawsuit .
"I want to know what happened to him, and why was this done?" said Dominicue's grandmother, Atila Bryant. "We've received conflicting information as to who was responsible for that baby, who found that baby," said Andrew Yaffa, an attorney for the family.
Although Homestead police initially said Dominicue was left on the morning van transport Tuesday, investigators now say he was taken into the day care facility and had Cheerios there. It remains unclear how workers lost track of Dominicue in the afternoon and how his lifeless body ended up on the ground behind the building near the van.
The day care's owner, Misael Ramos, was in court Thursday morning on an unrelated case. A judge cleared an old theft arrest that was never prosecuted.
According to the Department of Children and Families, Ramos was the only licensed driver of the day care's transport van, but Dominicue's family said Ramos was not the driver who picked him up Tuesday.
"The picture that they showed me that was supposed to have been the driver was not the driver," Porsha Andrews said.
"Misael, were you driving the van Tuesday?" Local 10's Glenna Milberg asked.
"No," Ramos said.
"You weren't driving?" Milberg asked.
"I have no comments," Ramos said.
"Did you leave Dominicue in the van?" Milberg asked.
"I have no comments, ma'am," he said.
It remains unclear whether the van was involved in Dominicue's death. Detectives took another look Thursday, as the DCF took action, as well.
"We're looking at suspending their license and have moved forward with the paperwork to do that," said Jacqui Colyer, DCF's regional director.
The cause of the child's death has not yet been made public. The medical examiner's office has released his body to the family.