Parents of 3-year-old who died in day care van finding comfort with their mission

HOUSTON - Nearly four years after the tragic death of 3-year-old Raymond "RJ" Pryer, Jr., who died after being left in a hot day care van, his parents say they’re still grieving.

"As hard as it is to wake up every day, and he’s not there, we still have to take that same hurt, and we have to channel it into something good," his mother Dikeisha Whitlock-Pryer said.

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RJ’s parents are keeping his memory alive through The RJ Foundation for Kids. They’ve partnered with Texas Children’s Hospital and several Houston-area businesses to provide free car seats and booster seats to daycares.

They’re also reaching out to daycare centers to make sure they have vehicle safety protocols in place.

"They need to have a checklist for entering and exiting a bus. If they don’t, we can help them with that," Whitlock-Pryer said.

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The family is also working with Texas Representative Jarvis Johnson to advocate for Bill 3381, which would require daycare vehicles in the state to have cameras installed.