Jonesboro, GA ---- 6/22/11

Jasmine Green was the youngest of Russell McAlister's 12 grandchildren.

"I thought she was one of the sweetest things we had," says McAlister.

He says his daughter, Jasmine's mother, is distraught knowing her daughter died in a hot van outside the daycare center where staffers were supposed to be taking care of her.

According to police, the kids went on a field trip to Chuck E. Cheese's Tuesday. Two and a half hours after they returned, a daycare worker noticed that Jasmine was missing. Staffers checked the van and found the 2-year-old in full cardiac arrest. Paramedics rushed her to a hospital where doctors pronounced her dead.

"It's rough on all of us. But she's really taking it rough. And what we're trying to do is keep her as calm as we can," says McAlister.

CBS Atlanta News has learned it was just last October when the daycare center was cited for not filling out a field trip form to make sure no child remained on the vehicle. The center was supposed to instruct staff on the safety measure.

McAlister says Jasmine's 4-year-old brother is having a hard time with his sister's death.

"They went there every day together, came back together. It's a hard pill to swallow. I don't know what happened.. But whatever it was, I think it could have been avoided."