PEORIA, AZ (CBS5) -
A Peoria family learned Wednesday that the Maricopa County Attorney's office is charging 28-year-old man with felony child abuse after their special-needs son was pulled from a sweltering van last year.
Tracy McCarty said her little boy, Tanner, now might finally get justice.
A year ago he could have died after he was left roasting in a hot van for more than an hour.
"I was really angry and I was really scared," said McCarty.
McCarty went to pick up her son at Quest Alliance, a daycare center for children with special needs, Aug. 10, 2011, but they said he wasn't there.
It turns out he was. He was picked up by one of their employees, Oscar Madrid, but left in the van. He was alone and strapped into the far back seat.
McCarty said Tanner was 6 years old at the time, and functioning at a 2-year-old level.
The temperature was 105 degrees outside the van. When they pulled the boy out, he was nearly unresponsive.
"He was just limp and just so red. When they handed him to me, he tried to lift his head up and look at me, but he couldn't even hold his head up," McCarty said.
Tanner was severely dehydrated and taken to a hospital.
As luck would have it, McCarty picked Tanner up 90 minutes early that day and knows that might have saved his life. She feels a simple check of the van when everyone else got off should have been routine.
"It was a stupid mistake and it could have ended so much worse," she said.
And for that mistake, she believes someone should pay.
Madrid is facing a class 3 felony charge of child abuse.
"Someone's going to go to jail. We would like to see someone serve time. You just don't endanger a child and get away with it," McCarty said.
According to court paperwork, two people were indicted for felony child abuse in this case. A second name was redacted.
Madrid will be in court Oct. 1 and McCarty said she plans to be there every step of the way.
Copyright 2012 KPHO CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
Tanner McCarty was nearly unresponsive when he was pulled out of a sweltering van at a Phoenix daycare center in August 2011.
Tracy McCarty said she will be in court "every step of the way" while Oscar Madrid is tried for felony child abuse after McCarty's son was left in van during a sweltering August 2011.
Oscar Madrid was working for Quest Alliance Inc. when he allegedly left a special-needs boy in a sweltering van.
