Two in custody, two sought in death of boy left in hot van

WEST MEMPHIS, Ark.— Two Arkansas day care workers were being held Friday on manslaughter charges and police were seeking two others in connection with the death of a 5-year-old developmentally disabled boy who was left in a sweltering van all day.

West Memphis Police Capt. Joe Baker told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that police have obtained arrest warrants for the four women in the death of Christopher Gardner, who remained strapped inside an Ascent Children’s Health Services van for eight hours Monday outside the West Memphis day care center. Christopher died Tuesday.

Felicia Ann Phillips, 42, drove the van, while Pamela Lavette Robinson, 43, rode in the van with the children to ensure their safety, Baker said.

Wanda Taylor was the 43-yearold “transportation supervisor” who signed Christopher into the day care, even though he never made it inside, and it was 40-year-old Kendra Washington’s job to make sure the vehicle was empty and secure, the police captain said.

“What we had here was four people who directly contributed to this death,” Baker said. “If any one of these four did anything different, there’s a good chance this wouldn’t have happened.”

Washington and Robinson were being held at the Crittenden County jail and are scheduled to appear Monday in West Memphis District Court, Baker told The Associated Press. Phillips and Taylor were not yet in custody and their attorneys have indicated they’ll turn themselves in Monday morning if police don’t find them earlier, Baker said.

Baker did not have contact information for the women’s attorneys.

Prosecuting attorney Tom Young told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the employees disregarded protocol.

“You have four individuals whose job it was to ensure safety,” Young said Friday. “They disregarded it—their duties— and as a result, that child is dead.”

The cause of death hasn’t been released, but the heat index neared 100 degrees Monday afternoon in West Memphis. According to KidsandCars.org, there have been over 800 child heatstroke deaths involving vehicles since 1990 in the U.S. The organization said about 7 percent of those fatalities were the result of a childcare worker leaving the child in a vehicle.