Crime
One-year-old dies after being left in van by daycare center driver
One-year-old Ra’Miyah and her two siblings were picked up from their home and taken to the daycare. While the other two children were removed from the car, the 1-year-old was left behind.
August 24, 2023 12:17pm
Updated: August 25, 2023 10:02am
A one-year-old girl was found dead inside a van on Monday outside of her daycare center in Omaha after she was left behind by the driver on one of the hottest days of the year, police said.
Police officers and medics responded to a call reporting an unresponsive baby inside a hot van at around 3 p.m. at Kidz to the Future Childcare in Omaha.
It was unclear how long the one-year-old, identified as Ra’Miyah Worthington, was left inside the van. However, the temperatures on Monday reached more than 110 degrees as part of the head wave scorching the Central U.S.
Ra’Miyah was rushed to Nebraska Medicine. When she arrived, the girl’s body temperature had reached 109 degrees Fahrenheit (42.8 C). By then, it was too late to save her and doctors could not revive her.
“I’m not comprehending how this could have even possibly happened,” the baby’s dad, Reeyon Worthington, told the station WOWT.
The couple had been sending their children to the same childcare for five years. However, on that tragic day, Ra’Miyah and her two siblings were picked up from their home and taken to the daycare. While the other two children were removed from the car, the 1-year-old was left behind.
“How do you forget one when you take two off the van?” asked the mother Sina Johnson Worthington, questioning why her absence at the daycare went unnoticed. “How did you forget my baby?”
The driver, identified as 62-year-old Ryan Williams, said he had gotten distracted by another boy who didn't want to get out of the van while he was unloading the vehicle and mistakenly forgot about the one-year-old, according to court documents.
On Tuesday, police arrested Williams. He was charged with child negligence resulting in death. He faces up to four years in prison. A bond hearing for Williams was set for Wednesday morning.
“He was responsible for getting those kids inside,” said Douglas County Chief Deputy Attorney Brenda Beadle. “That little girl was in that van between five and six hours with the temperature outside reaching nearly 100.”
