A one-year-old girl has died after allegedly being left in a childcare center’s van, as scorching temperatures affect numerous US states.
Ra’Miyah Worthington was found unresponsive in the vehicle in Nebraska, after mistakenly being left inside for between “five to six hours”, Douglas County chief deputy attorney Brenda Beadle said.
She later died in hospital.
As temperatures reached the mid-30C (more than 90F) outside the Kidz of the Future Childcare van, court documents said Ra’Miyah’s body temperature reached 42.8C.
A high temperature for children is classed as 38C or more, according to the NHS.
Ra’Miyah’s mother, Sina Johnson, described her daughter as “daddy’s little girl”.
“She loved, loved, loved her family,” she told NBC affiliated television station WOWT. “She loved her daddy. She was daddy’s little girl.”
Prosecutors charged van driver Ryan Williams, 62, of Omaha, on Tuesday with a felony count of child negligence resulting in death, which carries a sentence of up to four years in prison.
He told police he was distracted by a young boy who did not want to get out of the van and forgot Ra’Miyah was inside, closing the vehicle before checking it was empty.
“I’m not comprehending how this could have even possibly happened,” the girl’s father, Reeyon Worthington, told WOWT.
