A toddler who was found dead inside a car in Plantation is being mourned as the investigation into his death was continuing.
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Plantation police and firefighters had responded to the parking lot of A World of Discovery Academy Monday evening after receiving a report of a deceased child inside a car, fire officials said.
Paramedics confirmed that the child had died.
Leslie Novoa, the owner and director of the daycare, said the father arrived to pick up his 23-month-old son and suddenly realized he had never actually dropped the child off earlier in the day.
“The dad arrived to pick up his child and then he realized that the child was in the car and he was already unfortunately dead,” Novoa said Tuesday. “He opened the door and closed the door and then when I said ‘can I help you with something?’ he opened the door and that’s when I went to check on the child and unfortunately found out that the child was deceased.”
The father was screaming and the mother was also overcome with emotion when she arrived, Novoa said.
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“He was in pain, he was in a lot of pain,” she said. “It was a tragedy.”
Novoa said she’s known the family for around six years, and that there are two other children, ages 6 and 4.
“The family, very sweet family,” she said. “Very loving and caring family…very loving parents.”
The death is at least the third in Florida this year involving a child left in a car.
Police haven’t released the child’s identity or said whether the father may face charges but officials said an investigation was underway.
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