Crime & Safety
Family Files Lawsuit Over Infant's Death at Terra Linda Nursery
Three day care workers face criminal charges, state sanctions and a wrongful death lawsuit after a 4-month-old baby died in their car in October.
Three day care workers of a now-closed nursery in Terra Linda face criminal charges and state sanctions after a 4-month-old died while in their care last fall, the Marin Independent Journal reports.
The baby's parents, David Hampp and Anne Garwood, have also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursery, known as Magic Place Children's Center, including the owner and two employees, and are seeking unspecified damages, according to the Marin IJ.
Claudia Gil, the 44-year-old owner of the facilty, as well as employees Sandra Del Socoro Alvarado Mendez, 49, and Lorena Huitron Jiminez, 28, were arrested Nov. 5, 2012 at the 1055 Las Ovejas Drive day care center following the Marin County Sheriff’s Office Coroner Division's report that the child, who died Oct. 23, 2012 at Kaiser Hospital, suffocated due obstruction of the external airway by bedding.
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The manner of death was ruled accidental, and the employees, all from Richmond, were released pending further investigation.
Gil plead not guilty to six counts of violating child care center licensing requirements, including failing to provide medical treatment, failing to proivde adequate staffing, allowing an employee to provide care without a criminal record and failing to keep equipment in good and safe repair, the Marin IJ reports. None of the charges are felonies.
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Alvarado faces one count of failure to provide medical treatment, and Huitron-Jiminez faces failure to provide medical treatment, failing to provide direct visual supervision and false statements. Neither have entered their pleas, according to the Marin IJ.
They are scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 23.
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