Three employees at a Memphis daycare, Kid University, have been arrested and charged with felony offenses after a six-year-old autistic child named Winter Jones died from being left inside a hot van for over six hours. The charges include aggravated child neglect, criminally negligent homicide, and tampering with governmental records. The incident occurred on August 13 when temperatures reached the upper 90s in Memphis. Tametria Norry, Sabrina Powe, and Amilya Hardin face bail of $100,000 each; the daycare permanently closed following Winter's death.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-15,
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Story summary
On August 13, Winter Jones, a six-year-old non-verbal autistic girl, died after being left in a hot van for at least six hours by staff at Kid University daycare center in the Cordova neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee. The temperatures that day reached up to 98 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index of 103 degrees. Winter was supposed to be transported to Macon Hall Elementary School but remained unattended in the vehicle when it returned to the daycare facility. Investigations revealed that staff failed to conduct required safety checks and kept inaccurate transportation logs, leading to Winter's tragic death. Tametria Norry, the van driver, Assistant Director Sabrina Powe, and daycare assistant Amilya Hardin were each charged with aggravated child neglect, criminally negligent homicide, and tampering with governmental records.
Written for “Child Left To Die In Hot Van” on 2026-09-15,
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Three employees of a childcare center in Memphis, Tennessee, are facing felony charges following the death of a six-year-old girl left inside a van in triple-digit heat.
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employees → face → heat
Winter Jones, a non-verbal, autistic child, died August 13 after being in a Kid University van for at least six hours outside the facility in the Cordova neighborhood.
Picked up from home that morning, Winter was originally scheduled to be transported by staff to Macon Hall Elementary School but instead remained in the vehicle when it returned to the Kid University facility.
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it → die → facility
According to state investigators, facility staff failed to conduct required vehicle inspections, neglected to perform necessary van walk-throughs and kept inaccurate transportation logs.
uncertain
staff → accord → logs
On the day Winter died, Memphis temperatures reached the upper 90s with a heat index of 103 degrees Fahrenheit, according to National Weather Service data.
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temperatures → die → data
Tametria Norry, the driver, Assistant Director Sabrina Powe and daycare assistant Amilya Hardin, are each charged with aggravated child neglect, criminally negligent homicide and the destruction and tampering of governmental records, ABC 24 Memphis reported.
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Memphis → charge → records
The Shelby County District Attorney's Office reported that the indictment against the three staff members was returned by a grand jury September 11.
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indictment → report → jury
Bail for each defendant was set at $100,000.
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Bail → set → 100,000
Court records indicate Norry and Powe were booked on the day of the indictment, while Hardin was arrested Monday.
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Hardin → indicate → indictment
Kid University has permanently closed following the incident.
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University → close → incident
Dr. Raven Marshall-Lewis, the owner, surrendered the facility's license immediately after the child's death.
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Lewis → surrender → death
State records confirm this marks the second child fatality at a childcare facility operated by Marshall-Lewis following the 2021 death of three-month-old Colt Adkins at the Ivy League Learning Center in Bartlett, Tennessee.
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this → confirm → Bartlett
Marshall-Lewis continues to operate six other facilities across Shelby County.
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Lewis → continue → County
The indictments followed a press conference held by the family, less than two weeks after the child’s funeral.
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indictments → follow → funeral
“This is an absolute nightmare,” Bryan Jones, the victim's father, said.
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Jones → say → ?
“As a father, I won’t be able to walk her down the aisle.
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I → walk → aisle
I won’t become a grandfather.
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I → become → ?
“I can’t watch Winter progress even though she was diagnosed with autism.
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she → watch → autism
Winter was progressing.
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Winter → progress → ?
All of that was taken away by absolute negligence, by people who were too busy doing nothing to where they couldn’t make sure Winter was taken care of properly.”
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Winter → take → care
Nakia Cloman, the child's mother, recalled receiving the notification from the facility.
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Cloman → recall → facility
“She said, ‘Winter was left on the bus,’ and she said, ‘She’s barely breathing…’ and I started screaming,” Cloman said.
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Cloman → say → bus
“As soon as I got to the hospital, she was no longer here.
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she → get → hospital
She was gone.”
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She → go → ?
The family’s lawyer said that criminal charges offered initial accountability but they were still considering a civil lawsuit.
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they → say → lawsuit
“I knew immediately there had to be a sigh of relief in their lives because accountability with the criminal justice system is something they were looking forward to,” Taurus Bailey, the attorney, told NBC affiliate Action News 5.
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Bailey → know → affiliate
“There are going to be other people who may need to be held accountable on the civil end, including the childcare academy.
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who → be → academy
They were the last gatekeepers to that system operating properly.
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They → operate → system
But they completely failed.”
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they → fail → ?
The Aporia
