Winter Jones, 6, was supposed to be taken from her daycare to elementary school before she was found unresponsive hours later.
CORDOVA, Tenn. — A 6-year-old girl died Thursday after she was found unresponsive in a vehicle at a Memphis-area daycare, authorities said, as police and Tennessee agencies opened investigations into how the child remained in the vehicle for hours on a hot summer day.
Winter Jones was found at Kid University in Cordova on Aug. 13. Memphis police said officers responded to an ambulance call in the 700 block of Walnut Knoll Lane at 3:23 p.m. They were told the girl had already been taken to a hospital after being discovered in a vehicle. Medical personnel later pronounced her dead. Police said no charges had been filed as of their latest update and that the investigation remained open.
Winter’s father, Bryan Jones, told Action News 5 that he had dropped his daughter off at the daycare that morning. He said Kid University was supposed to transport her from the center to Macon Hall Elementary. For reasons that had not been publicly determined, Winter did not get off the vehicle and remained inside after it returned to the daycare parking lot, according to the station’s reporting.
Jones said he believed his daughter would be taken to school as expected. He described Winter as a child who enjoyed singing, dancing, swimming and playing with stuffed animals. Her family said she had autism and was nonverbal, a condition that relatives said would have made it difficult for her to alert someone that she was still inside the vehicle.
Christopher Jones, Winter’s uncle, told Action News 5 that his niece could not advocate for herself when she was in danger. Her father separately told reporters that Winter had an internal body temperature of 109 degrees when she died. That figure came from the family and had not been publicly confirmed in the Memphis Police Department’s statement. Local reporting said the outdoor temperature was about 97 degrees when Winter was found.
The circumstances surrounding the transportation process remained under investigation Friday. Action News 5 reported that Tennessee child care providers are required to use monitoring devices, conduct checks of vehicles and keep daily records of those checks. Authorities had not publicly said whether any required procedure was missed in Winter’s case or identified any individual as responsible for her death.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services and the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services joined Memphis police in examining what happened. The Department of Human Services said it was aware of the child’s death at Kid University and expressed condolences to her family. The agencies had not announced findings from their reviews as of the latest reports.
Questions also remained about Winter’s expected arrival at Macon Hall Elementary. Action News 5 reported that Memphis-Shelby County Schools had been asked why school staff did not inquire about Winter’s absence after the daycare vehicle arrived. The station said it had not received a response as of its Friday evening report.
Kid University did not respond to requests for comment reported by multiple news organizations. Action News 5 said no children were at the center Friday and that an employee inside did not open the door for a reporter. Center Director Gwen Johnson was not available for questions, according to the station. The daycare’s website also was no longer active after the incident.
Police have released only limited details about the official investigation. Their statement did not identify a cause of death, say precisely how long Winter was in the vehicle or determine who was responsible for checking it. Those issues remained unresolved publicly. Authorities also had not announced criminal charges in connection with the death.
The case remained under investigation Saturday by Memphis police and state agencies. Officials had not announced whether Kid University would face administrative action or when additional findings would be released. Police continued to classify the matter as an ongoing investigation into a juvenile death.
Author note: Last updated August 15, 2026.