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Toddler Left in Car; Former Day Care Employees Say They're Not to Blame

Omaha (KPTM)- A family said their four-year-old girl was left in a day care van for hours.

Three workers lost their job, but two of those employees said they're being used as scapegoats.

Amy Martin held a piece of paper in her hands that said she failed at doing a job she loved.

"I love my job, I love the staff, I love the kids," said Martin.

Martin worked at Little Lambs Daycare for 2 and a half years. On Tuesday, she got a call from her boss. "I said, am I without a job one way or another? He said, yeah, pretty much," said Martin.

Day care officials at Little Lambs said Martin and two other employees didn't check the vans Tuesday, and that was when four-year-old Haylee was left on the van for hours.

"I'm being called a liar and I did what I did every day," said Martin.

This isn't the first time this has happened at Little Lambs. In 2010, a two-year-old was left in a car for hours. The day care was put on probation. That's why officials said they created a checklist policy. Three different people have to sign off that a van had been checked.

"I'm getting the blame for something I didn't do," said Martin.

Martin said there are three steps taken each morning. One, the kids are picked up at home. Two, the kids are taken to the day care. Three, they are taken too school.

Martin said, they go through the check the vans on step two, right after they arrive at the daycare.

Martin said, on Tuesday, Haylee was picked up during a school route, so she had signed the checklist before Haylee was even on the van.

"We didn't check after school runs, that's not how we'd been doing it for two years," said Martin.

Charles Morrison was also fired. He had only been working at the day care since January. He said he wasn't at the day care at the time the other van driver pulled in. He said he left at 9, and Haylee was found at 2:30. "A few hours? Two or three? She was in the van for at least five hours," said Morrison.

"My heart goes out to the family," said Martin.

A little girl spent hours in the cold, and the one thing they all can agree on, it never should have happened.

Omaha Police are looking into the case.

The little girls family said it's considering pressing charges.