The 1-year-old boy found not breathing at a Haw River day care Monday
died from hyperthermia "related to heat and sun exposure," according to an Alamance County Department of Social Services report.
According to a source with knowledge of the investigation,
the child was left in a car. On Monday, the day the child died, the high temperature was 81 degrees in Alamance County.
Judy Harper, 59, the owner of the Palmer Leigh Small World day care, was in charge of the baby at the time of the incident. Listen to 911 call.
She
was charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly creating a "substantial risk of injury, hyperthermia, that resulted in the child's death," according to a press release from District Attorney Rob Johnson.
[...]
Harper
called 911 at about 2:51 p.m. Monday. She told the dispatcher that she had a 1-year-old baby that "just passed away," according to the 911 call.
She told the dispatcher that she was babysitting the child and that he had a fever over the weekend. She thought the baby was sleeping. She said she already tried to perform CPR on the child.
"I went to
wake him up at 2:30," Harper said. "
I thought he'd been asleep. He had a fever over the weekend."
The dispatcher
asked if the baby was still warm. She indicated he was "real warm." The dispatcher told her that CPR needed to be performed on him.
"Well, I tried, but I can't," she said.
"Ma'am, I'm going to help you," the dispatcher said.
"Well, OK."
The dispatcher asked her if she had been watching the baby. She said she's watched him since he was a newborn.
"When was the last time you checked on him?" the dispatcher asked.
"I'm in the same room with him. I'm always in the same room with him," she said.
Haw River firefighters and police officers responded to the day care center minutes later. When they arrived, they found that the child wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse.
Firefighter Keith Beaver moved the baby to a table to start CPR.
"Keith Beaver stated he
observed what appeared to be burns and the
skin was peeled up on the child's legs," the warrant states.
Beaver removed the child's jumpsuit and there were
burns and bruises on the left side of the baby's abdomen. The baby's body "felt very hot," the warrant states.
The baby was taken to Alamance Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
When authorities interviewed the baby's mother, she told them the baby was sick over the weekend but he was fine when she dropped him off at day care Monday morning.
[...]
The warrant gave police permission to search the day care center as well as a 1992 Ford Taurus station wagon. When authorities requested the warrant, the items they expected to seize included blood and body fluids, possible weapons, a diaper bag as well as heating appliances and curling irons.
The items that were actually seized from the day care center included tissues, bath towels, a small pillow and gauze, which all had blood on them. Emergency numbers in a frame and a clear gallon jug with a bleach and water mixture as well as a "skin sluffer," a knife and a brush, which were all found on a kitchen counter top.
From the station wagon, authorities seized a piece of the front passenger seat with a blood stain on it, a blue denim purse with blood on it and a green rag with blood in it, which were taken from the front passenger seat.
According to a DSS Child Protective Services history report, DSS received
five allegations of wrongdoing at Palmer Leigh Small World day care since 1997.
[...]
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Originally Posted by oakie87
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