The lawsuit, filed against BeYOUtiful Beginnings, alleges that employees at the daycare were grossly negligent and had no idea the child had wandered away from the facility. The incident occurred on August 28, 2025, at about 10:50 a.m., when Fort Worth police responded to a call from two good Samaritans who found the toddler in the middle of Parkwood Hill Boulevard.

According to the lawsuit, the child was dehydrated, and temperatures outside that day exceeded 100 degrees.

"She was on the verge of heat exhaustion. She was hot, sweaty, she had white stuff around her. She clearly looked like she was out lost, which is exactly what happened," said Russell T. Button, the attorney representing the family.

A Fort Worth police report cited in the lawsuit states that officers determined none of the employees at the daycare were aware the child had left the premises. Daycare staff told police their standard safety procedure for outdoor playtime includes a head count and name checks, along with a rope with Velcro straps placed on the children's wrists.

According to the suit, employees admitted that none of those standard safety measures were followed. One employee told police that children knew how to escape from the Velcro straps. The same employee said she was overwhelmed and did not realize the child had slipped away. The business's owner told police the daycare does not have cameras outside.

Texas Health and Human Services issued five citations to the daycare in connection with the incident: failing to ensure no child is neglectfully supervised; caregivers failing to demonstrate competency; failing to properly supervise children; failing to know which child each caregiver is responsible for; and failing to know how many children each caregiver is responsible for.

The citations state the child was unsupervised for 14 to 29 minutes. A new face-to-name sheet protocol was implemented at the daycare following the incident, according to the citations.

Button said he has not been made aware of any staff changes at the daycare since the incident.

BeYOUtiful Beginnings has not responded to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

The case raises questions about oversight of childcare providers in Tarrant County, where working families depend on daycare centers to keep young children safe. Texas Health and Human Services licenses and inspects childcare operations, but the citations in this case were issued only after a child had already been found in a roadway on one of the hottest days of the year.

The lawsuit seeks to hold the daycare accountable for what the family describes as a preventable failure of basic supervision.