Sheriff:
Toddler died after being left in a car while at unlicensed day care
ELLERBE — A 22-month old child died Thursday after
allegedly being left in care while under the care of an unlicensed day care
center in Ellerbe, according to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
Two individuals have been charged in connection to the death. Both
Dorothy Morgan Moore, 53, of Larry Parsons Road in Ellerbe and Paige
Elizabeth Black, 24, of North Bruton Drive in Candor have been charged with
one felony count each of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse inflicting
serious bodily injury.
They are being held at the Richmond County
Jail under a $30,000 secure bond. More charges are pending, as the
investigation is ongoing, according to the sheriff’s office.
The
sheriff’s office received a call of an unresponsive toddler on Larry Parson
Road in Ellerbe Thursday. EMS provided medical treatment to the child and
transported them to a care facility where he was pronounced dead. The
sheriff’s office has not identified the child or the parents.
“Investigators determined through the investigation that the child had been
kept at an unlicensed daycare facility and at some point during the
afternoon had been left in a vehicle parked in the yard,” Sheriff James
Clemmons explained in a press release.
The child has been sent to the
Chief Medical Examiners Office in Raleigh to determine the official cause of
death.
“Any time there’s a loss of a child, it’s just a very tragic event no
matter if it’s by natural means or by accident or by some other means,” he
said.