UPDATE: Toddler left in day-care van died from heat exposure
Richmond Police Department
A preliminary hearing was set for Aug. 4 for Keishawn L. Whitfield, 23.
Published: July 7, 2009
Updated: July 7, 2009
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A 13-month-old boy left in a day-care van yesterday died from heat exposure, the state medical examiner’s office said this afternoon.
Earlier today, a 23-year-old Richmond man was arraigned on a charge of felony child neglect in connection with the death of Andrew Johnson.
Keishawn L. Whitfield, an employee of the Yellow Brick Road Day Care & Learning Center in the 2000 block of Fourth Avenue, was arraigned by video in front of Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Judge Richard B. Campbell. The judge set bond at $20,000, and defense attorney John W. Luxton said his client, who is being held in the city lockup, likely would be freed later today.
Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael L. Herring said his office will consider whether to upgrade the charge against Whitfield, who discovered the child after returning to the van yesterday afternoon. Police responded to the emergency call at 4:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of Garland Avenue, where Whitfield lives.
Campbell scheduled a preliminary hearing for Aug. 4 and agreed to a request by Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Mary E. Langer that Whitfield not be allowed to have any contact with children.
Luxton described Johnson’s death as clearly an accident and said he has known Whitfield’s family for several years. Whitfield typically drove the van 3-4 times daily, Luxton said.
“I can’t imagine what happened,” Luxton said. “It was a tragedy for everybody involved, particularly for the parents of the child.”
Valerot Whitlow, the owner of the day-care center and Whitfield’s mother, attended the 5-minute video arraignment with family and neighbors. She did not make any comments after the hearing, but one neighbor, Charlene Sutton, said, “We know it’s a bad situation, and we just let God prevail.”
A neighbor who lives next door to Whitfield described the family as good, hard-working people who were distraught about what happened.
The neighbor, who declined to be identified, said he talked with Whitfield’s brother after emergency crews responded and “he was angry that it happened.“
“He was angry… because nobody noticed the child until [Whitfield] found” him in the van after returning home at 2719 Garland Avenue. The boy was still alive and Whitfield tried to resuscitate him before emergency crews arrived, the neighbor said.
“I’m just sorry it happened,“ the neighbor said. “I can’t imagine the grief that Keishawn is feeling. He’s a good kid.“
Whitfield was charged in November 2007 with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He initially pleaded guilty but withdrew his plea. In January, a judge found there was sufficient evidence to convict on a charge of possesision but took the case under advisement and placed Whitfield under supervision, Langer said today.
— Mark Bowes and Michael Martz
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Reader Reactions
his criminal past has everything to do with it, last time i checked possesion of cocaine w/ intent to distribute is a felony. A convicted felon should not be employeed in a child care setting. A previous poster also mentioned that the accused has a child that he has no contact with, which probably also means his does not provide financial support either. If you can’t be a father to your own child why on earth would you work in a daycare???? I will say it again, I do not put the full blame on this man but blame every employee of this daycare. Everyone can sympathize all you want for this man & his family that owned the daycare but the sympathy needs to go to this childs family who will not see him grow up, this poor little guy died a horrible suffering death. No amount of sympathy can fix his mother’s broken heart and forgive me if i’m wrong but “i’m sorry” “it was a mistake” WHATEVER, it was that facilities job to care for that child, this child was 13mos old, probably just started walking not long ago, has a limited vocabulary. Did they expect him to jump up and say “hey, don’t forget me”. Again I ask why a 13mo old child was not properly restrained in a car seat, which would have made him visible to the driver. Again I ask why the daycare did not check to see where the child was, why he wasn’t in school that day. I’m sorry but as a mother this whole situation angers me, children cannot protect or defend themselves, this poor little boy & his family, I can’t feel sorry for the accused & i’m sure he does feel bad, he should & he should have rode in the ambulance with the child, but bottom line…he & the daycare were neglegant to the extent of costing a child his life. In essence this was murder.
So, a persons past bad deeds should not be realavent on todays bad deeds. Are you dumb, retarded or stupid? Take your pick.
fatz9978,
So, what you’re saying is your past shouldnt have anything to do with a job you take? So, lets see, the world you live in is like this: Someone convicted of rape can work at a women’s shelter, a child molester can work at the chuckie-cheese, child porn creator can work at daycare, you would elect a major that had already been convicted of and scene on TV smoking crack, a convicted drug addict can work at pharmacy, etc, etc. You are living in a wonderland. I wonder what you were convicted of to say such a thing.
And you attempt to connect this story and the Baskin Robbins story is ignorant.
focus?,
Noone has neglected to show remorse for the child. Since the child cant be given a life again, the focus will remain on the person that did this and the company that hired him. If we only focus on the child and mourn for him, then this will only keep happening. I for one would like any steps takens to preven this. If it means charging the man because he was on dope, then we should do it. If it means stricter hiring standards, then we should do it. To turn a blind eye to a problem is not an answer. If I’m crazy, as you say, for stating my concerns about the neglect that was shown, then I dont mind someone like you taking offense to it. Do mistakes happen? Yes. Can it be corrected, in this case it seems obviously YES. The druggie shouldnt have been working there to begin with. Word.
Hey, (focus?) NO it could not “happen to anyone”. NOT if you are doing your job correctly.
You all are CRAZY the real focus is the child that lost his life not what Keishawn COULD have been doing. You people have no life and should not judge cause that could happen to any one. So you should keep your personal feelings to yourself! Im sure he did not mean to do it and more than likely feels bad enough and he cared enough to ride with the child to the hospital. It is truley sad about the little boy and may he rest in peace!!
per the VA social services in february the daycare received a violation for - Staff #1,2 and 3 did have documentation of a satisfactory Sworn Statement and Affirmation but did not have documentation of satisfactory Child Protective Services and Criminal History Checks.
As a parent, I wouldn’t want him driving my child to school…if that was the case in this incident.
It seems simple enough. Check the number of children picking up and number dropping off. He probably had to go sell some coke to one of him homies and didnt have time to worry about the numbers. I cant belive some people are talking about how he was such a good kid. Give me a break. Someone that young selling coke, a good kid? Not in my world. And I come from a colorful past and had to earn and work hard to get where I’m at now. Sad Sad Sad world when people defend the character of someone like him.
Ok from someone who works in childcare, and who has driven a daycare van, I just don’t understand how something like this can happen. At all. There is no excuse what so ever. When you park the van you look through it to make sure no child is left behind. You have your head count. You know how many get on the van and match it with how many get off. And the fact that he has priors. No. There’s no excuse. My heart goes out to the baby’s family. Whitfield will be released from jail. He is still living and breathing. But that family will never have their baby again. So sad.
He should have checked the van before getting out. Take a quick walk back to make sure the kids didn’t leave anything just because. It may be a little cramped because he’s much taller than a toddler, but it would have indeed saved Little Andrew’s life. As far as the president, the financial, automobile and housing industries are concerned…WTH do they have to do with this? I’m just curious, that’s all. Some people take their comments, remarks and opinions above and beyond. Apples have nothing to do with oranges. Sorry.
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