Investigators say a routine trip to a babysitter never happened, leaving a 1-year-old girl inside a vehicle for hours.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — A routine arrangement to take a 1-year-old girl to a babysitter ended in her death Saturday after authorities say the man responsible for driving her returned home without dropping her off and left her inside his vehicle for hours.
Investigators say the child remained in the vehicle until her mother called that afternoon to ask about her whereabouts. The call led 22-year-old Keyner Roman Vazquez de Leon to realize that the girl had never reached the babysitter, according to an arrest report. He later found her unresponsive, and emergency crews were unable to save her.
Authorities said Vazquez de Leon had been responsible for taking the girl from her home to a babysitter’s home Monday through Saturday for about a year. He was not related to the child, investigators said. The arrangement had become part of a regular transportation routine that also included driving another person to work.
On Saturday, Vazquez de Leon picked up the girl at about 6:45 a.m., according to the arrest report. Investigators said he then picked up another person and drove that person to work before returning to his home in Homestead with the toddler still inside the vehicle.
Authorities said Vazquez de Leon turned off the vehicle and went into his home, leaving the girl behind. The report says that by about 9 a.m., he had begun washing vehicles outside the home while the child remained inside his vehicle. Police have said she was left in the vehicle for about eight hours.
The situation was not discovered until about 3 p.m., when the girl’s mother contacted Vazquez de Leon and asked where her daughter was, investigators said. Authorities said he then realized that he had not completed the trip to the babysitter’s home and went to check the vehicle.
He found the girl unresponsive in her car seat, according to investigators. Authorities said Vazquez de Leon carried the car seat, with the child still inside, into his home and called for emergency help. Homestead police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the property in the 1200 block of Northwest Ninth Court shortly after 3:30 p.m.
Fire rescue personnel provided emergency medical care, but the girl was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Her identity has not been publicly released in the reports reviewed for this story. Authorities also have not publicly announced detailed medical findings establishing the precise cause and manner of her death.
Vazquez de Leon remained at the scene and was taken into custody. Investigators said he was brought to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau and provided a statement after being advised of his rights. The arrest report says his statement corroborated the sequence of events outlined by investigators.
He now faces three felony charges: aggravated manslaughter of a child under 18, leaving a child younger than 6 unattended in a motor vehicle resulting in bodily harm, and child neglect causing great bodily harm. A judge denied bond on the manslaughter charge during a court appearance Monday. The charges are allegations, and Vazquez de Leon has not been convicted in the case.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau continues to investigate the child’s death. Authorities had not announced additional findings Monday about the medical cause of death or other evidence gathered in the investigation.
Author note: Last updated November 9, 2026.