4 fired over death of boy at Arkansas day care centre

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – An Arkansas day care centre has fired four employees over the death of a 5-year-old developmentally disabled boy who was left in a sweltering van all day.

Ascent Children’s Health Services CEO Dan Sullivan said Wednesday that “staff did not follow company policies and procedures, and if they had, this tragedy would not have occurred.”

Christopher Gardner was picked up by Ascent on Monday morning but he wasn’t taken inside the West Memphis day care centre, which serves children with developmental disabilities and has centres throughout the state.

Sullivan, who is also a state representative, says the company has been in contact with Christopher’s family and that it will continue to work with the authorities investigating the death.

West Memphis is across the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee.