No charges yet in tot's death

Wake County Sheriff's investigators and the district attorney will meet today with the parents of 2-year-old Ranika Dena Clifton before deciding whether to file charges against the day care driver who left the girl in a van for more than seven hours last week.

Ranika was dead by the time driver Tim Day realized he had never removed her from the van Sept. 17.

Day, 63, of Wake Forest, picked up the child at her Massey Apartments home that morning, strapped her in her car seat and drove her to the day care at Corinth United Church of Christ on N.C. 96.

When Day arrived at the day care center, another van was already loaded and waiting for him to drive the five children inside to school at Youngsville Elementary. Typically, Day took Ranika inside the center before escorting the elementary students to their van.

Major T.S. Matthews with the Wake County Sheriff's Department says the change in routine distracted Day, and he forgot to take Ranika inside the center.

The van with darkened windows was parked in front of the center all day out of sight of the center's play areas.

None of the center employees noticed Ranika was missing until Day arrived to drive the afternoon routes. Matthews said it was not unusual for Ranika to miss a day and there was no alternate method for ensuring students were taken out of the van.

Matthews said the medical examiner has given him preliminary autopsy results but won't yet release the findings. Though autopsy results aren't final, Matthews says he has enough information to determine if Day should be charged in Ranika's death. Foul play has been ruled out, he said.

An overflow crowd packed the Friendship Chapel Baptist Church for Ranika's funeral Saturday. Family members and friends recalled the little girl's smile and loving personality.

The state Division of Child Development is investigating the day care center and the circumstances surrounding Ranika's death. A final report is not expected for at least a month.