Investigators said the boy, 2-year-old Daniel Slutsky, had been driven to the daycare center by neighbor and daycare co-owner Rimma Shvartsman.
Action News has learned Shvartsman and Slutsky's families live two doors apart.
Slutsky was picked up around 9:00 a.m., and arrived at the daycare around 9:30 a.m.
D.A. Michelle Henry said Shvartsman forgot about the child for most of the day, and he was left in a minivan across the street.
It was around 84 degrees Wednesday afternoon, with the sun bearing down in the minivan all day long.
The doors were locked and the windows were rolled up, investigators said.
Around 4:30 p.m., the D.A. says Shvartsman returned to the minivan to find Slutsky inside.
The boy was brought into the daycare.
Witnesses saw officers rushing Slutsky out to an emergency vehicle and said the boy looked lifeless.
The boy was taken to St. Mary Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Slutsky is ruled to have died from hyperthermia.
The family buried the little boy Thursday, then gathered again at the family's home.
A lawyer for Shvartsman issued a statement saying this was a tragic accident and if there was any way she could revisit the events and undo it, she would do so in an instant.
The statement goes on to say that Shvartsman is fully cooperating with the police, the district attorney and state licensing agencies.
No charges were announced at the press conference as the investigation continues.
The boy's parents, Gil and Lyudmila Slutsky, filed a lawsuit against the center last month. Their lawyer said they want to make sure similar deaths won't happen again.
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