Three workers now face charges nearly two months after a baby girl was left alone in the dark inside a closed Philadelphia day care, the District Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday.
Sydia Thomas, 23, Gabriela Rivas, 35, and Janae Smith, 22, are all charged with endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred back on Feb. 1, 2024.
Jessy Flores and her partner Camron Banks told NBC10 they were picking up their 6-month-old daughter Amora that evening at New Arisens Childcare Solutions' Feltonville location on 4400 Whitaker Avenue.
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Flores told NBC10 they went to pick their daughter up around 5:30 p.m. but noticed the doors were closed.
“They are usually closed at six,” Flores said.
Flores said they banged on the door and rang the doorbell but never received an answer. They then called Philadelphia police.
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“They had to break down the door,” Flores said. “Fire department had to break it down, like a machine.”
Flores said they then found their daughter alone and strapped to her car seat in a dark room.
“It was just confusion,” she said. “Anger. I was just crying. I was very emotional. I didn’t know how to feel or say anything.”
Flores told NBC10 she’s worked in day cares before and doesn’t know how the incident could’ve happened.
“Make sure everything’s clean. Look under the tables because kids hide. Like we have a lot of trainings for that. For losing kids,” she said.
Flores told NBC10 the owner of the day care apologized to her that night but didn’t provide an explanation.
“Nobody knew when she last ate,” Flores said. “Nobody knew when she was changed. Nobody knew who she was with.”
Flores said her daughter was a little dehydrated after the incident but overall was OK.
The day care was closed the next day. NBC10 visited New Arisens’ second location in East Frankford for answers. An employee told us at the time they weren’t taking any questions.
According to state records, New Arisens’ Feltonville location was in compliance as of last year’s inspection and had no violations on file for the past five years.
