by Chris Cannon
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A mother broke down in tears Friday afternoon when she learned her daughter had wandered out of a daycare center and walked a quarter mile home.
The four-year-old walked out of the World of Wonder Child Care Center at the Gossip United Missionary Baptist Church in the Bordeaux area of Nashville.
It was Stephanie Marcum's daughter Jasmine's third day at the church-run daycare.
"And they know when I dropped her off this morning she didn't want to stay, and I thought it was just because she wanted to be with me," Marcum said.
Marcum said her daughter walked out of the church during nap time Friday afternoon.
"She's not responsible enough as a four year old to know she's not supposed to leave," Marcum said.
The girl walked a quarter of a mile home, but no one was there to answer the door. She then started to walk back up Fairview Drive towards World of Wonder. That is when a neighbor knew something was wrong.
"My motherly instincts just kicked in, and I jumped my car, and I took up the street," the neighbor explained.
Once she got to the child the neighbor knew she had to help her.
"I called her to my car and I jumped out of my car and I grabbed her and said come on, because she knew who I was," she said.
The neighbor called the girl's great grandmother and told her what had happened. Soon after the church's pastor knocked on her door looking for Jasmine.
"I could tell by his expression, the way he was carrying himself, he was very scared. It wasn't something he was proud of happening," the neighbor said.
The neighbor would not let the pastor take the child back to the daycare and kept the girl until her mother arrived.
Marcum still cannot believe no one from World of Wonder ever contacted her about the incident.
"It's ridiculous. We should have been notified, first thing, immediately," Marcum said.
When she did go to the church to pick-up your younger daughter Marcum said the pastor was very apologetic.
"The only thing he could say was sorry. He said sorry, sorry, I will take full responsibility," Marcum said.
The mother did file an incident report with the Metro Police Department and plans to contact the State of Tennessee Department of Human Services to inform them of what happened.
NewsChannel 5 contacted World of Wonder in an effort to get the pastor's side of the story. He did not want to comment on the situation.
email: ccannon@newschannel5.com
