Mother Of Baby Left In Day Care SUV Speaks

By Katie DeLong

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MILWAUKEE - The owner of a Milwaukee day care will see the district attorney next week. A baby died after being left in the day care's SUV all day Thursday. TODAY’S TMJ4 was there when the infant’s mother, Stephanie Dotts, came back to the scene where her only child was found dead in an SUV. She carried balloons and at teddy bear to place at her son's memorial. She was sad, and angry as she set up the memorial and ripped down the day care’s sign. “My only 4-month-old son. He wasn't only in this world for a year and now he's gone,” Dotts said. Police said 4-month-old Seiaires McHenry was picked up by the Kuddle Kare Day Kare owner at 9:15 in the morning. They say she was going to pick up other children, but there were none to pick up. Police say the day care owner left Seiaires alone in the SUV and went inside and told a worker to get him out. That never happened. Seven hours later a worker saw the child in the SUV and brought him inside but it was too late. The child was dead. “This is her second time picking my baby up. Usually her son will come and pick him up - the one that got the eight kids - and he had plenty of kids in the van and my baby never come up dead with him. You all said she only had one baby and that was my son, so this makes me feel like she left my son in there on purpose,” Dotts said. TODAY’S TMJ4 discovered previous problems at Kuddle Kare. The day care was recently cited for poor conditions, workers who were not qualified and violations for indoor and outdoor hazards. Now this. The mother struggled to leave the scene Friday, and remains in agony. “How can you forget my one baby,” Dotts asked. The day care owner is scheduled to see the DA next week. Earlier this week, we told you about a similar day care incident. A day care bus driver was fired after he left a 1-year-old on a bus. That child survived. In 2005, Asia Jones, 2, died after she was left behind in a day care van. A driver forgot the girl was in the van. That tragedy inspired the passage of the “Asia Jones Law” which allows criminal negligence charges to be filed against day care centers.