Nationwide — Jasmine Najee, an African American mom from Dothan, Alabama, says that her 3-year-old son, Sir Paxton, made an unsupervised trip from his daycare to a nearby Walmart this week, raising concerns about safety at the daycare center that was supposed to be watching him. The incident happened on Tuesday at Kidde Care Learning Center after Sir Paxton asked to use the restroom, and, according to Najee, daycare staff instructed him to go alone. Unnoticed, he managed to leave the facility and walk across the street to the store.According to WLBT, Sir Paxton wandered through the Walmart for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, unsupervised, before a store employee, who happened to be a family friend, saw him. The child had Hot Wheels and snacks in hand, ready to check out when he was finally stopped. Security footage from the store showed Sir Paxton leaving the daycare at 4:07 p.m., and the police were alerted at about 4:30 p.m.
Despite the alarming nature of the situation, Najee was not informed by the daycare until nearly 5 p.m., leaving her frustrated and concerned for her son’s safety. Fortunately, Sir Paxton was unharmed during the ordeal, but Najee expressed her relief that the outcome wasn’t worse, stating, “We could be grieving his death.”
Kiddie Care Learning Center’s owner, Kishia Saffold, has since issued a public apology. She expressed regret over the daycare’s failure to ensure the safety of Sir Paxton, stating, “As the director and owner, I take full responsibility for our failure.” Saffold also assured parents and the public that new security measures would be implemented to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.