TRAGEDY REVERBERATES COMMUNITY SHOCKED BY LOSS OF LIVES.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Stuffed animals, candles and letters were left Wednesday at a day care center where two young brothers died the previous day after being locked in a sweltering sport-utility vehicle.

The makeshift memorial marked the community's outpouring of grief for Dakota Prince, 5, and Nehemiah Prince, 3, who died.

``My heart is just breaking,'' said a tearful Sandie Mora, a Lancaster resident who placed a stuffed star, with a moon and a cloud dangling from it, next to a pair of hugging teddy bears.

Mora said the star represented Dakota, with Nehemiah clinging to him.

``One good thing is that they went together. Now they are little angels,'' Mora said. ``I can't even imagine an animal being left alone in a hot car for five hours - let alone two babies. There is just no justifiable excuse for that. I truly hope this was just a mistake. I hope and pray it was not done maliciously.''

The two boys were found dead on the back floor of the SUV just after 2 p.m. Tuesday outside A Child's Place day care center on Fig Avenue.

Foster mother Leslie Smoot, who owns the center, told sheriff's deputies she arrived at the center between 8:30 m. and 9:00 a.m. and thought somebody else was bringing the children inside. When she realized hours later the boys were not inside, she ran out to the SUV and found them still in it. The temperature inside the Escalade had climbed to an estimated 120 degrees during the hours they were locked there.

Smoot was questioned for several hours until homicide investigators decided to arrest her formally just after 11 p.m. She remained in custody as of Wednesday afternoon in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Smoot's relatives who were at her home on Wednesday declined to comment.

A member of the Lancaster Sunrise Rotary Club went to A Child's Place to hand out fliers with a picture of a child in a car seat and the message: ``Not even for a minute. Never leave a child unattended in a car.'' But the school was closed for the day.

``We hope by distributing these materials that care providers will think for a minute before doing something like this,'' said Rotary Club member Larry Jernigan. ``We hope to prevent the tragedy that we witnessed yesterday.''

The club will begin a campaign of distributing the fliers, car stickers and pamphlets on the dangers of leaving a child in a car unattended. The materials will be distributed at hospitals, driving schools and day care facilities. People interested in obtaining the materials can call [phone].

Some of the people who knew Smoot best, however, described her as a loving, compassionate person who lived for the many children she has raised over the past two decades.

``They don't make people like that any more,'' said a man who asked to be identified only as a close family friend. ``People don't want to help kids anymore the way she did. There's nothing bad about that lady. This was all just a big mistake. It was just miscommunication. She loved all the kids she cared for even if they weren't hers.''

Patty Simone, whose two children have attended A Child's Place for nearly two years, also praised Smoot. ``She would take my kids to church with her and her kids,'' Simone said. ``I never had to worry about my child with her there. She was wonderful, and she cared about all of us, not just the kids, but all of us.''

Smoot's friends and parents youngsters enrolled at A Child's Place said they planned to attend her arraignment today in Lancaster. Some hoped for a chance to to give statements about her character.

Greg Botonis, [phone]

gregory.botonis(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Sandie Mora wipes tears after leaving a stuffed toy in memory of two boys killed by heat in a car outside a day care center.

(2) After the heat deaths Tuesday of two little boys who had been locked in a vehicle, Rotary Club member Larry Jernigan passes out fliers warning against leaving children unattended in cars.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer