DELAND, Fla. — A Deland man, whose quick actions helped save the life of a three-year-old girl left inside a hot car, is breaking his silence.
“It was really something to see because I never thought that I’d see anything like that,” said Marc Tait, 40, of Deland.
Tait was inside the parking lot of Grifols Biomat USA - Plasma Donation Center on E. New York Ave in Deland on May 31, when he saw a woman in a panic, clutching her daughter.
“I saw her pull the child from the car and run kind of to-and-fro through the parking lot,” he said. “And I thought that this looked like the kid was in trouble.”
Deland Police say La’Tana Williams, 27, left her daughter inside the car for two hours while she was ,donating plasma.
When she returned to the car, the child was not breathing. According to the arrest affidavit, Williams started to panic, which caught the attention of others in the parking lot.
One woman conducted CPR on the child, and she responded. Tait doused the child with cold water and called 911.
“She was pale in the face until the lady started doing CPR and until she started to cool off, said Tait. “The baby was completely discolored. It was really, it was sad to see. I thought I was seeing this child die.”
The child was taken to Advent Health Orlando Children’s Hospital, where she is recovering.
According to an arrest affidavit, Williams told police she left her daughter in the car with the air conditioning running while she donated plasma. She said she communicated with her daughter the entire time through a tablet.
Police said none of what Williams said was true. Williams is facing a felony count of child neglect with great bodily harm. New York Ave in Deland on May 31, when he saw a woman in a panic, clutching her daughter.
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