ROLLING FORK – The parents of the child who died last week after being left in a sweltering van for more than seven hours have filed a lawsuit in the boy’s death.

Kenya Johnson and James Brady III, the parents of 19-month-old Kaleb R. Johnson, say three employees and Mississippi Christian Family Services were negligent in the Glen Allan child’s death.

Mirenda Frazier, of Hollandale, is one of the defendants in the suit. Frazier, employed by the day care as a teacher’s aide and transportation van escort, was arrested earlier this week and charged with manslaughter by culpable negligence in Kaleb’s death following investigations by state and local authorities.

The other employees named in the suit are Eugene Lane, the van driver on the day of Kaleb’s death, and Latasha Coleman, an assistant teacher in the early intervention-child development class Kaleb had attended since March.

Authorities said the boy died from heat exposure after being left in his child restraint seat in the closed van.

The suit, which was filed Friday by a Jackson law firm in Sharkey County Circuit Court and tells one side of a legal argument, alleges the trio and the day care were &#8220careless, negligent, grossly negligent and reckless” in their care of Kaleb.

The parents are seeking damages for pain and suffering, funeral expenses, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of present net cash value of Kaleb’s life expectancy and mental and emotional distress, among other claims.

An expert who studies heat deaths said it could have been 135 degrees in the van when the child died. The high temperature was 92 degrees that day.

Jan Null, an adjunct professor of meteorology at San Francisco State University, said there have been 14 similar cases across the nation this year. It was the only reported in Mississippi this year.