OXFORD — Parents suing a now-closed north Mississippi child care center where their infant died last year allege that a worker left their child swaddled and face down on a soft surface for about 35 minutes.
The Oxford Eagle reports that Joe and Jenna Hastings sued owners and managers of the Mother Goose Daycare in Lafayette County Circuit Court on Friday.
They seek money damages in the death of Brynlee Renae Hastings, their nine-week-old child, who died last November. The Hastings allege video shows their daughter was left “neglected and untouched.”
Police arrested 23-year-old worker Amy Rogers of Grenada in December, charging her with manslaughter.
The Hastings say Mother Goose had received prior complaints about Rogers, citing a 2019 state Health Department report that says a family withdrew their three-month-old son after finding that Rogers placed infants on their stomachs and allowed them to sleep outside their cribs on soft mats, according to the complaint.
Pediatricians advise that infants should be put to sleep on their backs to avoid sudden infant death syndrome and other breathing problems.
The family sued Rogers, Mother Goose owners Mike and Alicia Valle, Rogers, and two other workers at the center. Rogers and a lawyer for the Valles did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on Monday.
The complaint says Rogers was the only employee in the infant room for most of the afternoon when the child died.“Byrnlee was the youngest and smallest infant in Rogers’ classroom,” a portion of the complaint reads. “The other infants in the room were able to independently roll over, crawl, or walk in a walker. Brynlee was completely dependent on Defendants to care for her and protect her from harm.”
The complaint says video shows Rogers placed the infant face down on a soft mat and that the infant, too young to roll over on her own, struggled for breath for 18 minutes while Rogers sat in a nearby rocking chair and sometimes looked at her phone. Rogers later checked on the infant and saw her face covered in blood, the complaint said, adding that was from bleeding caused by suffocation. Rogers picked up the girl and ran out of the room, with the complaint saying another worker performed CPR.
Doctors found a pulse, but the child was pronounced dead the next day in a Memphis, Tennessee, hospital after a neurosurgeon evaluated Brynlee and determined she would not recover from the injuries caused by oxygen starvation.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
