Due to the suffocation death of a four-month old baby while in a child care center, the center's owner and two of its employees have been arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors have determined, based on the evidence, that the three will face misdemeanor as opposed to felony charges, as reported by The Marin Independent Journal.
Magic Place Children Center, located in Terra Linda, has since closed down. As well as the criminal charges, the staff faces state sanctions and a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the child's parents, D.H. and A.G.
Damages are yet to be determined in the lawsuit.
Richard Schoenberger, the attorney representing D.H. and A.G. said, "This is their only child and it is as devastating as anyone with a child can imagine. They're just wracked with pain."
On October 23 employees of Magic Place Children Center discovered a baby boy unconscious in his bed. Emergency responders were called and the baby was taken to the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Both the San Rafael police department, and the county corner's division, investigated the child's death. It was determined that the boy suffocated in his bedding.
C.G., 44, the owner of the children's center was arrested, along with two of her staff members, S.D.S.A.M., 49 and L.H.J., 28.
All three have been released on bail pending the prosecutor's review of the case.
According to District Attorney Ed Berberian, the evidence supports misdemeanor charges against all three. Berberian said, "We did a very careful review."
Prosecutor Leon Kousharian filed six charges against C.G., all for violating child care center licensing requirements: failing to provide medical treatment; failing to provide direct visual supervision; false statements; failure to provide adequate staffing; allowing an employee to provide care without a criminal record clearance; and failure to maintain equipment in safe condition.
C.G. pleaded not guilty to all six charges. Defense attorney Rabin Nabizadeh represents her. Nabizadeh said, "I think it's the sort of case where everybody saw that this was not a case where fault had to be determined that way. I didn't think felony charges were appropriate and I'm happy the district attorney's office didn't feel that way either."
C.G.'s two employees have yet to enter their pleas. S.D.S.A.M. has been charged with one misdemeanor count for her failure to provide medical treatment. L.H.J. faces the same failure to provide medical treatment charge along with failing to provide direct visual supervision and false statements.
All three defendants are residents of Richmond. They are due to be in criminal court again on January 23. According to Kousharian, if convicted, each faces a maximum 6-month prison sentence.
The child care's license has since been revoked by the Department of Social Services after it completed its own investigation. According to state filings, all three are now banned from working in a licensed facility.
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