8-year-old boy with asthma left in van for hours outside Temple Hills day care

A mother who went to pick up her son from his day care in Temple Hills, Maryland, was sent into panic mode when she was told that he wasn't there. She later discovered that employees had accidentally left her 8-year-old all alone in the back of a van outside the facility.

Maresha Myada told News4 her two boys, 8-year-old Anthony and 1-year-old Hakeem, mean more to her than life itself.

“Everybody that knows me, [knows that] like, I don’t ask for mommy breaks. Like, I always have my kids,” Myada said. “If I’m working, or they’re in school, that’s the only – I always have my kids. I love my kids. You know, they’re my world.”

​She said a major portion of her world got flipped upside down on Monday evening just before 6 p.m., when she arrived at Smiling Faces Learning Center to pick up both of her children, like she does every weekday. 

​But little Hakeem was the only child brought outside to her car.

When she asked about her oldest son, she said she was told, “‘Oh, we didn’t pick him up from the school.’ [They said] that the van had got to the school and that my son Anthony never came out of the school, so the van left.”

​Sheer panic ensued. Myada said she called family members and went back to her son’s elementary school to no avail. She even filed a missing person’s report. 

​Finally, Myada received a phone call from her mother stating that her son was indeed at the day care, but had been left unsupervised. 

​“The director meets me outside with my son, saying that he was locked inside the van,” she said. “It was like so many emotions; I was devastated, really.”   

​Myada said her son has asthma, and was severely dehydrated, red in the face and shaken up after the incident.

​Following the discovery, Myada said the day care center investigated and provided an incident report, which she signed.

​As a part of the findings, the report said: “Owner, Mr. Anthony Williams conveyed that the van attendant, had failed to thoroughly check the van as he had claimed. As a result, Anthony was left on the van for approximately 3 hours (3:20 PM - 6:15 PM).”

“I could never trust that day care ever again in my life,” Myada said. “Right now, I don’t trust day cares, like, period.”

​The day care’s report also listed its follow-up actions, detailing that the incident was reported to the state’s Office of Child Care. It said the center’s staff would perform regular checks of vehicles, ensure that children are now checked in and out of the center and van, and would be provided with additional training on pick-ups and drop-offs.

Anthony Williams, the owner of the Smiling Faces Learning Center, told News4 in a statement Thursday that the normal staff driver left for a family emergency that day, leaving the van in the hands of a driver who was shadowing him as part of his job training.

Williams said the trainee did not properly check the van after dropping kids off at the center Monday afternoon.

The trainee has since been told he will not be hired, and the staff driver received a written warning, according to Williams.

“Although we deeply regret the recent incident in question and are profoundly concerned about the safety and well-being of all the children under Smiling Faces Learning care, those familiar with our management team, appointed within the past year, understand that we prioritize safety, quality of education, and protection of every child at Smiling Faces Learning Center," Williams said in his statement.

​Myada said she reported the case to Prince George’s County police, and they confirmed to News4 that they were investigating. 

​“I just urge parents to just do their research. You know, just don’t trust day cares too easily,” Myada said. 

Myada said pulled both of her children out of the facility, and is looking into other options so that her sons have some type of care while she’s working.