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Parents sue daycare after toddler dies in hot van

Roughly four hours after returning to the daycare from the park, the toddler was found unresponsive inside the daycare van.

HOUSTON - The family of a toddler who died after being left in a hot daycare van is suing the childcare center.

The parents of 3-year-old R.J. Pryer, Jr. filed the lawsuit, accusing Discovering Me Academy of negligence for not having systems in place to account for all children on field trips, especially during extreme heat.

On July 19, roughly four hours after returning to the daycare from the park, R.J. was found unresponsive inside the van where officials said temperatures reached 113 degrees.

R.J.'s parents, Raymond Pryer and Dikeisha Whitlock-Pryer, spoke to the media on Tuesday about the lawsuit.

They said they want to see the daycare's rules and laws changed so that no other family might experience the devastation they are going through.

"We'll never get our son back, but we can help the next person with their kid and so on." Dikeisha said.

KHOU 11 found Discovering Me Academy was cited by the state at least three times in recent years for not having a safety alarm that helps verify children are not left onboard and for not immediately reporting a crash involving a van.

The daycare was also cited for not knowing the number of children in a group during a previous outing.

R.J.'s parents say the lawsuit is really about pushing all daycares to step up safety.

"We will get to take some depositions and find out who was supposed to be on the bus, who was supposed to be counting the children, and who is it ultimately that dropped the ball here." said the family's attorney, Larry Wilson.

The couple said staff members needed to be trained better and triple check to make sure all children are accounted for.

They suggested technology could also help like installing sensors and cameras on busses.

"They have schools that have scanners here in Houston where these kids scan on the bus and scan off the bus." said Dikeisha.

The family created a GoFundMe page to help with a memorial foundation in the R.J.'s name.

"Just an amazing child, amazing child. We were blessed to have him 1,178 days to be exact, and I thank God that we had those years to be his parents." said Dikeisha.

Credit: GoFundMe - Support 4 Dikeisha & Raymond Pryer
R.J. Pryer, Jr.

The daycare's manager declined to comment on the lawsuit, and court records do not list an attorney for them.

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