Orlando Police have released two 911 calls related to Myles Hill, the 3-year-old who died on August 7 after being left in a van for 12 hours.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that police made two 911 calls public on Thursday. The first call was placed at 8 p.m. by Hill’s grandmother, Brenda Watts, to report her grandson missing. Twenty minutes later, day care worker Sandra Adkins called 911 after seeing the toddler’s body in a van in Little Miracles Academy’s parking lot.
During the second call, Adkins told a dispatcher that “the child is dead.” Near the end of the call, Watts is heard in the background asking where Hill is with Adkins responding “he’s gone” amid screaming and crying.
Watts originally told a dispatcher that her grandson is typically dropped off between 6 and 6:30 p.m.
“They say my baby didn’t go to school today but he went to school today,” Watts explained. “I gave them the payment and signed the paper for my baby this morning. And now it’s after 8 and my baby still ain’t home yet.”
As Crime Online previously reported, authorities believe temperatures inside the van possibly reached 140 degrees on the day in question. An autopsy later confirmed that Hill died of hyperthermia caused by environmental exposure.
The day care driver, Deborah Denise St. Charles, 51, (pictured) was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child in connection with Hill’s death. St. Charles is accused of failing to perform a head count and vehicle check after transporting five children to the day care, resulting in Hill being left in the van, Crime Online reported last week.
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) announced the closing of both Little Miracles Academy locations as they conduct an investigation into Hill’s death. The agency also revealed that the day care facility was cited a month earlier for not keeping track of the children they were transporting.
Originally asking the slain child’s family for forgiveness, Little Miracles owner Audrey Thornton is apparently fighting to get her businesses reopened. Her attorney, Robert Nesmith, revealed that she is currently filing an appeal with DCF and the District Court of Appeals.
The toddler was laid to rest on August 12. The family now believes that Thornton should also be charged. Police haven’t disclosed whether they plan to also charge the day care owner.
St. Charles remains jailed on a $30,000 bond.
[Featured Image: Orlando Police Department/WFTV]