A Wisconsin working mother has filed a police report after her son’s day care, Amazing Mays Childcare, closed for the day and her toddler was left alone inside the building.
Kendra Jordan says she dropped her son off at the Milwaukee child care center on Thursday, Aug. 10, in the afternoon before going to her work shift. When the mother returned to pick up her 1-year-old, Kay’vontae, around 11:30 p.m., the business was locked and closed.
According to CBS 58, her son was still in the building alone and could be heard crying through a cracked window.
“It’s shocking, it’s traumatizing, it’s stressful, and it’s emotional,” Jordan said.
Jordan says she called 911 to see if officers from the Milwaukee Police Department could help safely get her son out of the building and locate the owner, Takelia Yegger Mays.
“We didn’t reach her till about 35, 45 minutes after the whole situation had even started,” Jordan told the station.
Eventually, Jordan was reunited with her child. The entire ordeal lasted hours, from the time she called the police to the time Kay’vontae was in her arms.
“So many thoughts were running through my mind because so many kids every day coming up missing, so many kids every day coming up deceased. I just hugged him, and I cried,” Jordan explained.
As a result of the ordeal, Jordan says she has not returned to work and is nervous about trusting the child in the care of someone else.
“Everyone is referring me to their daycare, and it’s like if I can’t call him 24/7 to see if he’s OK, I don’t even want to put him in there like I can’t trust day cares no more. That was a very scary experience. Like, I honestly thought I lost my baby,” Jordan said.
Yegger Mays posted a comment regarding the incident on her Facebook.
“During the closing shift, a child was left in the daycare unattended by night shift staff,” she wrote in part. “I was alerted by the child’s aunt an hour later and, within about 40 minutes of travel time, arrived on scene to unite the child with their parent. This was an isolated incident, and the child was not harmed. As the owner and operator of Amazing Mays Childcare, I take accountability for this terrible incident.”
She also apologized.
According to the state’s child care website, this was not an isolated incident of neglect.
The facility, which is supposed to be open from 5 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. and services children from 4 weeks old to 13 years, has been in trouble multiple times this year before its operating license was suspended on Aug. 11.
A review of hours worked during the week of May 29 found discrepancies in matching staff to classrooms, leading to a write-up on July 20.
The day care was fined $2,000 when a staff member left three and later four children unsupervised in a non-classroom area on June 3. During this time, the children played around with a water dispenser. A 6-year-old poured hot water on a 10-year-old, causing severe first- and second-degree burns.
They also received a warning letter on March 3 for adults not supervising the children.
Jordan has filed a police report and secured a lawyer to explore what can be done. Since the formal complaint was leveled, Amazing Mays has been shut down.
