3 of 4 charged in Arkansas day care van death enter pleas

MARION, Ark. – Three of four women charged with manslaughter in the death of a 5-year-old boy who was left in a day care van in Arkansas have pleaded not guilty.

Online court records show Felicia Phillips, Wanda Taylor and Kendra Washington pleaded not guilty on Monday in Crittenden County Circuit Court in Marion.

The three are charged in the June 12 death of Christopher Gardner Jr., who authorities say was left in a day care van in West Memphis for nearly nine hours as the temperature inside the van reached 141 degrees.

Investigators say the women overlooked Gardner three separate times before he died inside the van.

An attorney for the child’s mother tells WMC-TV that the fourth woman’s case was delayed because her attorney has been called for jury duty.