Memphis community mourns 6-year-old girl found unresponsive on daycare bus
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Winter Jones was supposed to be transported from her daycare to elementary school but was found unresponsive inside the vehicle hours later.
A Memphis family and community are mourning the death of 6-year-old Winter Jones, who was found unresponsive inside a daycare vehicle Thursday after she was supposed to be transported from her daycare to elementary school.
Winter, who was nonverbal and autistic, was dropped off at Kid University in Cordova by her father, Bryan Jones, that morning. The daycare was expected to take her to Macon Hall Elementary, but investigators say she never got off the bus. She remained inside the vehicle after it returned to the daycare, where she was discovered in the afternoon.
Memphis police confirmed that officers responded to Kid University shortly after 3 p.m. after receiving an ambulance call involving a child in need of medical assistance. Winter was taken to Baptist Children’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Her father told Action News 5 that he trusted the daycare to safely transport his daughter.
“I dropped her off at daycare and they were supposed to take her to school from there,” Jones said. He described Winter as a child who loved singing, dancing, stuffed animals and swimming.
“I was excited to see how her life was going to turn out,” he said. “But the worst part of it is…I won’t ever know.”
On Sunday, family members, friends and community members gathered at Bert Ferguson Park in Cordova for a candlelight vigil honoring Winter. Her father remembered saying goodbye to his daughter that morning, recalling that she smiled at him as she walked away.
The vigil also became a call for accountability and transparency as investigators work to determine why Winter remained on the vehicle.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services and Department of Children’s Services are investigating alongside Memphis police. Memphis-Shelby County Schools has also been contacted about why Winter’s absence was not flagged when the daycare bus arrived at her elementary school.
Aimee Joyner, executive director of the Harwood Center, said children who are nonverbal require additional checks and safeguards because they may not be able to communicate that they are in danger.
For Winter’s loved ones, those questions now surround the loss of a child her father described as “so full of life.”
A GoFundMe has been established to help with financial support and final arrangements for Winter.