Dominique Wilson, Houston daycare operator of ‘My Lil Angels’ arrested leaving 5 children in 91 Fahrenheit weather to go shopping at Kroger. Insisted she had left air conditioner running. Children were found in exasperated conditions.
A Houston daycare owner has been arrested after leaving five children amid searing temperatures unattended in a parked car while she went inside a store to shop.
Dominique Wilson, the owner and operator of local daycare outlet, ‘My Lil Angels’ (yes… the irony) following her arrest faced five charges of child endangerment in Harris County.
Police said they were called to the Kroger parking lot along Telephone Road around Noon on Friday. Authorities say Wilson is accused of taking her two kids inside the grocery store, while leaving five clients’ children inside the hot car in 91-degree heat. A witness said the kids were left alone in the car for about 40 minutes.
Houston daycare owner insisted leaving AC on
Another witness told police they found the children in distress, red-faced, and crying and were able to free the children before Wilson eventually returning to the vehicle.
Court officials said the car’s window was ‘barely cracked’ and the vehicle was not running, according to KHOU.
The neglected passengers included, three infants and two children between the ages of 5-years-old to 8-years-old.
At the time of the discovery, Wilson claimed the vehicle’s AC being on a claim that Kroger store workers who found the neglected children disputed.
According to online records, Wilson who has operated her daycare out of her Stone st residence is licensed by the state and doesn’t have a history of compliance issues ABC13 reported.
Advice on how to avoid hot car tragedies
News of the children caretaker’s arrest led to locals expressing disbelief and concern.
‘There is obviously no excuse. It’s super hot in Houston. I wouldn’t even leave my dog in the car, so I don’t know what she was thinking,’ Nyleh Peters told FOX26.
Wilson had her bond set to $10,000 for each charge. Her next court appearance is on October 15. If Wilson makes bond, the judge said she can’t supervise children under 17.
The Texas Department of State Health Services put out a warning in July to never leave children in parked cars. The state agency said within a two week-period, there were four cases of a child dying in a parked car. This year’s cases surpass the three car deaths recorded in all of 2024, according to the agency.
“Texas leads the nation in the number of child hot car deaths,” Amber Rollins, director of Kids and Car Safety, said.
Rollins said a child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s.
‘There’s no safe amount of time for a child to be alone in a vehicle no matter what,’ Rollins said.
Rollins described August as one of the worst months of the year for hot car tragedies. She stressed the importance of implementing safety precautions.
‘Create a habit of opening that back door and checking the backseat every single time you leave your vehicle,’ Rollins said.
