2 More Arrested For Day Care Death
SUNRISE (CBSMiami) – After more than a month, charges have been filed against three people for the death of a 4-year-old left in a hot daycare SUV in Tamarac.
Arrested Friday: Cecily Roberts, 43, the owner of 3C's Day Academy in Sunrise, and her daughter, Camille Gordon, 20.
Daycare worker Paris Ward, 19, was arrested Thursday.
All three have been charged with one count of aggravated manslaughter. Roberts also faces an additional charge of felony child care misrepresentation.
Gordon and Roberts were both arrested in New York early Friday morning, where detectives say they were operating another daycare, L.R. Academy, offering 24-hour care for young children.
There is no word on when the pair will return to Broward County.
Jordan Coleman's mother Fantasia Goldson has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the daycare.
Her attorney, Stuart Z. Grossman, said Goldson is relieved criminal charges are also being pursued.
"We're pleased to see the State Attorney's Office has charged them with a significant crime," Grossman told CBS 4's Carey Codd. "They'd like to see the State's Attorney's Office prosecute them fully under the letter of the law."
Broward Sheriff's Office investigators said the boy had been left in a hot day care SUV at a Tamarac apartment complex for at least two hours before he was found.
"The doctor measured the body temperature of the 4-year-old which came back at 108 degrees," Judge Hurley explained.
Jordan Coleman was supposed to be at the 3 C's Day Academy in Sunrise on August 1st. Instead, investigators said Ward and another worker loaded the boy and 7 other children into the Toyota Sequoia.
Records showed Roberts had been cited before for having too many children in her daycare and for leaving young children without supervision. Detectives said Jordan and the other children were loaded up and taken out of the daycare because Roberts wanted to avoid the scrutiny of county investigators. Investigators say Roberts was concerned about losing her license.
B.S.O. investigators said Paris Ward initially told them Jordan Coleman collapsed inexplicably while getting in to the SUV. However, detectives say Ward eventually admitted the truth.
Grossman said there is a lesson in Jordan Coleman's death for other parents of children in daycare.
"They need to reiterate to any day care facility our child's not to leave these premises -- not to be transported, not to be taken anywhere, nothing whatsoever -- unless you have our express permission," Grossman said.
The 3C's Day Academy has been closed since Coleman's death.
