The AM/DM podcast: Memphis was once known for daycare van deaths. How it happened again.
Two weeks ago, a non-verbal autistic first grader died after being left in a Cordova daycare van.
Kid University was supposed to drop six-year-old Winter Jones off at Macon-Hall Elementary for school that morning. Instead, she was found hours later and rushed to an area hospital, but she did not survive.
In July 2000, Time magazine wrote a story about Tennessee’s massive childcare reform laws, which came as the result of three children dying after being left in Memphis daycare vans. One died in 1997; two more died in 1999, on the same summer day.
Today, longtime reporter Jody Callahan is here to talk about Jones’ death and the processes the state has put in place to keep kids safe.
Join us.
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Topics
Winter JonesMary Cashiola
Mary Cashiola has been a Memphis journalist for nearly two decades, beginning her career covering city government and local neighborhoods at the Memphis Flyer before being hired by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton’s administration.
Before joining The Daily Memphian, she was the managing editor of the Memphis Business Journal, which was named one of the top 10 Best Designed Newspapers in the world by the Society of News Design while she was there.
She also has a background in advertising, with a focus on higher education and the hospitality industry.
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