Judge Closes Cobb Day Care After Child Left in Hot Van

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A Cobb County judge has ordered the closure of a day care center where a 2-year-old child was left inside a hot van for several hours.

On May 5, Zaryaha Emile was picked up by a Bright Achievers Pre-K Center van as usual but was not removed from the vehicle when the van arrived at the center. She was not noticed until an employee was getting ready to take the van to pick up elementary school students, police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

According to FOX 5 Atlanta, the Bright Achievers Pre-K Center was ordered closed on Wednesday morning, two weeks after center owner Dr. Melinda Hamilton was taken into custody and charged with reckless conduct, making false statements, concealing facts, and tampering with evidence.

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WSB-TV reports that Hamilton is accused of telling the mother of the 2-year-old that her child had only been left in the van for 15 minutes, while in reality the child had been inside for over five hours. Furthermore, Hamilton is accused of failing to call 911 when the child was discovered, telling the driver not to report the incident, and ordering employee to make up fake stories and destroy evidence.

Several other arrests have been made in connection to the incident, the AJC reports. A computer technician has been charged with obstruction after police say he lied to them about taking devices out of the center. Four other employees have been arrested and charged with reckless conduct or making false statements to police.

The center had appealed the original emergency closure order, but subsequently lost a two-day hearing which culminated in a judge confirming the original order, the AJC said.