ARCADIA, Fla. — Newly released footage from deputy body cameras details the chaotic moments after a woman crashed a car through the fence of a DeSoto County daycare in mid-March, killing one child.
About 20 minutes of footage was released, including about five minutes of deputies' first reactions as they examine the crash scene. Deputies mention a girl, later identified as Maleena Valdez, having suffered violent injuries.
While most of the video shows the tragedy of the situation, a brief segment shows the human drama unfolding just a short distance away, at an intersection near the Imagination Station daycare.
A deputy approaches a sedan parked behind a Sheriff's Office vehicle and asks the woman behind the wheel to roll down her window.
The woman is visibly shaken by the news of what has happened, after a brief discussion with a passerby on a bicycle.
The deputy asks the woman to remain in the car. At this time, children are being escorted from the daycare to a safe location. "No matter what you see, please stay in the car," the deputy says.
"Is my daughter okay? Did you ask?"
The deputy reminds her to stay in the car before he answers, "Is she blond-haired, with a pink shirt?"
The woman puts her hand over her mouth in a brief moment of panic. Her daughter was wearing a gray shirt that morning. However, she does confirm her child is blond-haired.
Her eyes dart past the deputy as another official rounds the corner just seconds later with her child in his arms. The deputy urges the woman to stay in her car until the child is carried closer to her.
"Oh, my God... Oh, my God," she breathes.
As the second deputy passes the young girl into her mother's arms, the woman says, "Baby, what happened? Mama's never gonna leave you with no one again."
She turns to the first deputy with tears welling up in her eyes. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"Let's just relax in the car, okay?" the deputy says, not wanting to add further trauma to the situation.
"You didn't get hurt. Jesus saved you," the mother says as the child cries softly upon her shoulder.
While the reunion is poignant, the mother is still concerned about what she's heard regarding the crash. "Did she see something she shouldn't have seen?" she asks.
The deputy's brief pause says a lot. He simply replies, "Yes."
"Baby girl, I'm so sorry," the mother says, as they tearfully get back in her sedan. They embrace for several minutes more before the mother has to adjust the car's position in the street to allow more traffic past.
She apologizes profusely, amid the deputy's protests. "You have nothing to apologize for; stop that," he says reassuringly.
The woman and child are not identified by name in the video; as a result, we have decided to blur their faces in the video clip.
Kiara Morant, the woman identified as the woman who crashed into the daycare, faces charges including driving without a license that resulted in death. The March 16 crash killed 4-year-old Valdez, who had been in the playground area at the time.
