KTRK
A Texas mother is outraged that her 10-month-old son was forgotten and left alone in the dark at a locked day care center in Houston, KTRK reports.
Authorities are currently investigating 30-year-old Sharonda Ross’ claims after she and her husband, Lawrence Matthews, were forced to break into the day care to retrieve their crying little boy, Jordan.
According to ABC News, Ross, a security worker, had had an arrangement with Joann’s Day Care since April in which she would come to pick up her son as soon as her shift was finished at 6 p.m., which is when the center officially closes.
Ross got a nasty shock on Monday, however, when she realized that little Jordan was locked inside the building, with all the lights out.
“I was thinking this isn’t happening. I’m dreaming,” she told ABC News. “I’m going to wake up and it’s going to be a dream. I’m just at a loss for words.”
At first, when Ross arrived at the center after her shift and saw that the building was closed and the parking lot empty, she thought, perhaps, that her husband had picked up the small child, according to ABC News.
Ross said that she pulled and banged on the door but got no answer. When she called the day care, there was no response. So she left to go home to see if Matthews had the child. The “terrified” couple soon realized what had happened and rushed back to the center.
“I banged on the window to see if someone maybe fell asleep. I heard my baby crying louder after the third time. I knew that was my baby,” Ross said. “That’s when I told my husband to break the window.”
With Ross filming the entire incident, Matthews broke through one of the windows of the center and crawled carefully through the broken glass. In the background, a baby’s cries could be heard coming from the dark building. After a few seconds, Matthews came back into view with the child in his arms, handing him carefully through the window to his sobbing mother.
“I wanted them to know they had my child and nobody was here,” Ross said.
Jordan was not injured, and Ross and Matthews do not face charges in the case, according to ABC News.
The day care’s owner has apologized for the incident but said that the employee who left the baby unattended will not be fired.
“First I’m deeply, terribly sorry,” Joann Davis said. “I thank God he was OK. … It was our mistake. I’m not saying it’s not … but the main thing is the baby’s OK, and I’m sorry as I can be."
Ross, for her part, told ABC News that she is not sure she will ever leave him in day care again.
“I don’t see myself allowing him to go to day care,” she said. “I’m going to be at work and asking, ‘Is my baby by himself? At what point did you forget my child was there?’”
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