COVINGTON, Ky. — The family of a 4-month-old found unresponsive at a Covington day care is suing the facility for wrongful death.
On Feb. 7, Covington police responded to the Little Treehouse Learning Center for a reported unresponsive infant. Calls obtained by WCPO 9 show an employee called 911 and told dispatchers she discovered the child was not breathing while checking on him as he slept.
Dispatcher: "How long do you think he's not been breathing for?"
Caller: "Maybe 30 minutes."
Dispatcher: "30 minutes not breathing?"
Caller: "Yeah."
The child was taken to St. Elizabeth Edgewood, where he was pronounced dead. At the time, police said the child's exact cause of death was pending an autopsy report, but noted that "at this time we have not found cause to believe any crimes were committed."
Now, a lawsuit from the child's family claims the owners of the facility were negligent and even lied to them about the day care, ultimately leading to their child's death.
WATCH: Lawsuit gives more insight into moments after child found unresponsive at Covington day care
The lawsuit filed in Kenton County Circuit Court alleges employees gave the infant a bottle at 2 p.m. Then, at approximately 2:28 p.m. the infant was laid down for a nap. On or about 3:39 p.m., 911 calls were placed and at 3:48 p.m., employees at the day care contacted the parents.
Dispatcher: "Is there somebody else in there helping you?"
Caller: "No, I didn't want to freak anybody out."
The 911 operator instructed the employee to do chest compressions on the infant until emergency responders arrived. The employee told 911 that the infant was sick with the flu, and that day was his first day back at the facility. She also indicated the baby was still warm, but she couldn't feel a pulse.
About a minute later, the employee told 911 that the child was throwing up. The operator then instructed her to put the infant on his side.
In the lawsuit, the infant's family says they believe the child choked to death saying that a "white noise" machine was present, making it difficult for workers to hear him choking.
The lawsuit says the facility did not have cameras, even though the family alleges the owners of the day care assured them that their cameras were "always watching the children." It also pointed out 21 different violations against Little Treehouse Learning Center from its April 2024 inspection, which included a lack of background checks for employees, multiple staff members not completing their required yearly training, inappropriate bedding in cribs, improper staff-to-child ratios and periods when no staff member has CPR or first aid training.
On top of issues of non-compliance in 2024, WCPO found similar violations from 2020-2023.
We reached out to the lawyers representing both parties in this case. The lawyer for the plaintiffs had no comment. As of Wednesday evening, we still haven't heard back from the lawyer representing Little Treehouse Learning Center.
