The incident happened Monday at Marlo’s Magnificent Early Learning Center on Thrasher Court in Clayton County. After a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, the 2-year-old girl was left in a van for at least two hours, police said. In an emotional interview, the parents of Jasmine Green told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas that they want the day care shut down.
They just kept saying she fell asleep between the seats, and they didn’t realize she was gone, said the childs mother, April McAlister. I just don’t understand how they can do that to my baby.
Day care owner Marlo Maria Fallings, 41, and Quantabia Hopkins, 23, and a 16-year-old girl were charged with second-degree cruelty to children, involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. They were booked into the Clayton County Jail shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Jasmine was taken to Southern Regional Medical Center, but did not survive. Her parents told Thomas that her older brother, who is 4 years old, had been on the same field trip. They shared a photo of Jasmine taken on Father’s Day.
You miss my child for three hours? That’s not a mistake, that’s a problem, said Checo Green, the girl’s father.
Mondays high temperatures were in the low to mid-90s.
Channel 2 learned that the day care had been previously cited by the state for failure to document a field trip.
An inspection showed that staff members did not initial or document the field trip form for children after a trip in October.
State law requires that at the completion of every trip, a check must be made to assure that no child remains in the vehicle.
The state directed the day care to instruct its staff regarding the safety measures and ordered that the corrections be made by March 2011.
