Day-care license revoked

• By STEVEN WARD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jul 3, 2009 - Page: 1A

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State officials have revoked the license of the Baton Rouge day-care center where a 3-year-old girl died Wednesday after being left for six hours in a van parked outside the center.

The child died from hyperthermia, or overheating of the body, according to autopsy results from the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office.

The state Department of Social Services, which regulates day-care centers, on Thursday revoked the license of Wanda’s Kids World, 2839 Brady St.

The effective date was “immediately.”

Damiyn McElveen was discovered in the facility’s van just before 3 p.m. Wednesday and was taken inside the center, where staff members administered CPR to try to resuscitate her, Baton Rouge Police spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly said Wednesday.

When paramedics arrived, Damiyn was already dead, Kelly said.

As of Thursday, no one had been criminally charged in the incident, said District Attorney Hillar Moore.

“We met with police this morning for an hour and a half. I don’t anticipate any arrests today through the holiday weekend,” Moore said.

“What happened was very unfortunate, but we are still investigating and there are a lot of questions to be answered,” he said.

Moore also said Damiyn was not in her car seat, but was discovered by employees lying on the floor of the van.

There were three adults in the van when the children were transported to the day-care facility, Kelly said.

“This is a horrific tragedy that could have been easily prevented if the child care center had followed the safety regulations in place,” Kristy Nichols, secretary of DSS, said in a news release.

The day-care center, which has been in operation since 1987 and was serving 18 children as of June this year, had been cited by DSS in the past for numerous deficiencies, according to agency reports.