Deltona, FL – No charging decision has been made yet in the case of the 6-month-old boy found dead in a sport utility vehicle parked at Deltona Middle School on Friday.
On Monday, Volusia County Sheriff’s Office PIO Gary Davidson identified the child as Trenton Cason-Collins. Davidson also said the woman caring for the child is 38-year-old Chanda Larson of Orange City.
According to Davidson, Trenton belonged to a relative of Larson’s and had been placed in her care about 6 weeks ago.
“According to a statement that Chanda Larson gave to Sheriff’s investigators, she had dropped off her son at his school Friday morning and then brought Trenton’s sister to her bus stop,” Davidson added. “Larson was then supposed to drop off Trenton at a day care in Deltona, but forgot and drove directly to Deltona Middle School, arriving there at about 7:30am.”
The baby wasn’t discovered until around 4pm Friday, when Larson found the baby outside of his car seat face-down on the backseat of her silver 2008 Honda SUV and called 911, according to the incident report.
“According to Larson’s statement, when she discovered Trenton in the vehicle Friday afternoon, she removed him from the car seat and called out for help,” Davidson noted. “A bystander came to her aid and attempted to resuscitate Trenton, but when the efforts failed, Trenton was placed on the back seat in the position he was found when deputies arrived.”
A school worker who spoke to 911 during the call told the dispatcher she thought the baby had been left in the SUV all day in the front parking lot of the school campus on Enterprise Road.
VCSO’s Major Case Unit is investigating. An autopsy to determine cause of death has been scheduled.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.