Expand / Collapse search
☰

Pa. daycare owner charged after infant dies on first day

Published  April 25, 2017 5:10pm EDT
U.S.
FOX 29 Philadelphia

TREICHLERS, PA (WTXF) - Almost a year after a three-month-old baby died on her first day at daycare, the owner of that facility now faces charges.

McKenna Rose's family set up a GoFundMe after she passed away last April.

Northampton County's District Attorney announced today that a grand jury has approved "child endangerment" charges against Sharon Ballek. She owned the now-closed Sharon's Daycare in Lehigh Township.

Prosecutors say the staff put down the baby for a nap on her stomach in a back room and left her unsupervised.

Without a monitor, it's not possible to hear a baby in the back room, according to the DA. In this case, there was no monitor present.

Prosecutors say Ballek called 911 when she checked on McKenna and found her unresponsive.

The medical examiner listed the reason behind her death as "sudden unexplained death in infancy."