OAKLAND PARK, Fla. _ A day care center where a toddler died Monday after being left for hours in a hot van has been shut down while detectives continue their criminal investigation, a county official said Tuesday.
The body of little Noah Sneed was found Monday afternoon in a transport van parked outside Ceressa's Daycare & Preschool in Oakland Park on a day when temperatures soared into the 90s.
If the center's staff were to be charged with a crime and convicted, they would be prohibited from working in child care in Florida again, said William Karp, division manager at Broward County's Child Care Licensing and Enforcement section.
"That would be permanent," Karp said.
On Tuesday morning, one Broward Sheriff's Office cruiser was parked outside the Oakland Park day care center on Northwest 21st Avenue.
Noah had been in the transport van parked in the driveway from morning until he was discovered by a staff member about 3:30 p.m., said Keyla Concepcion, a sheriff's spokeswoman.
The day care center had been fined twice in 2010 and again in 2017, records show.
The center was due for another inspection in August and was last inspected April 12.
"At that time everything was in compliance," Karp said.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel couldn't reach day care staff Tuesday despite phone calls and a visit to a home address in Lauderhill affiliated with the center.
Noah's mother, Chanese Sneed, could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but a friend said she was devastated by the loss of her son.
Sneed, 33, currently lives at a homeless shelter near downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Her Facebook page says she has worked as a cashier at Burger King and attended Boyd Anderson High School in Fort Lauderdale.
Several photos on Facebook show Noah as a smiling chubby baby flanked by two older children.
"It's a very emotional time for us," said Ryon Coote, chief development officer at Broward Partnership, the organization that runs the homeless shelter where Noah and his family were staying.
Reporters were coming and going from the shelter all morning, but Coote was not able to share any news about the family, citing privacy laws.
"We are saddened by the situation and are providing the mother with the services he needs," he said. "We extend our thoughts and prayers to the mother and her family at this time. This is a terrible situation."
An official with the Broward medical examiner's office declined to release details about the case, citing the pending investigation.
