OAKLAND PARK, Fla. – Two safeguards -- a safety alarm designed to alert day care drivers when a child has not gotten off the van and a log meant to help day care staff to keep track of the children -- were not operational on the day a 2-year-old boy was found dead in Oakland Park, according to the Broward County Child Care Licensing and Enforcement division.
The driver of Ceressa's Enrichment and Empowerment Academy van where Noah Sneed was found dead told a Broward Sheriff's Office detective that she had turned off the alarm that could have prevented the tragedy, a report shows.
The driver told the detective she parked the white Ford E-350 Super Duty van outside the day care about 9:30 a.m. July 29. The director, who usually took attendance, wasn't at the day care at the time the children got off the van, according to the report.
Noah was found dead inside the van about 3:30 p.m. He was strapped into a seat belt.
"The driver did not follow the correct procedures for operating the alarm on this vehicle as it states that the driver or a staff member must physically inspect each seat before turning off the alarm," Ellen Pincus, a Broward County childcare licensing specialist, wrote in the report.
Inspectors issued violations to the facility July 31 for lack of supervision on the vehicle, vehicle child safety alarm, no transportation log, daily attendance and improper seat belt restraints.
"Daily attendance of children must be taken and recorded accurately by the child care personnel,
documenting the time when each child enters and departs the program," Pincus wrote.
Broward County sent a copy of the report to the day care's owner, Lakeila Glennis Harris, on Aug. 2 and issued a notice of violation Monday. Harris could not be reached for comment.
Detectives from the homicide unit are investigating Noah's death.