By Thomas Hastings, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
A man is reported dead on the scene after he crashed his Dodge pickup truck into a daycare center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Fort Wayne Police Department responded to the single-car accident a little before 8 a.m. and found the man unresponsive and pinned inside his truck. According to a written statement by police, the man was reportedly driving at a high rate of speed, left the road, struck the daycare center and hit a power pole before finally rolling into a vacant lot. Medics arrived at the scene and declared the man dead. The crash remains under investigation by local authorities and agencies.
An 11-month-old boy was shot in an apparent drive by shooting in the Pleasant Grove area of Texas. Police have arrested a gang member, identified as 31-year-old Carlos Cordova, in relation to the drive by shooting. Cordova faces a charge of injury to a child and aggravated assault.
A 10-year-boy died as a result of a fatal head-on collision in Marshalltown, Iowa. The young boy was identified as Hunter Snider. Hunter’s residence was not publicly released but it was confirmed that he died at Marshalltown Medical & Surgical Center after being transported there after the collision.
In West Virginia and other States, children are cared for and supervised at treatment facilities for emotional and behavioral problems. The facility and staff have a duty to provide consistent and compassionate care for these children. Unfortunately, some child care workers abuse their position and abuse or neglect children under their care. Having video surveillance in child care facilities including treatment centers, day care centers, and schools can be very helpful in monitoring and evaluating the care provided to children. In some instances, the situation would be difficult to evaluate without such video surveillance because it may just be the child’s word against the employee’s word. If the child has emotional or behavioral problems – then it may be difficult to prove the abuse / neglect and convince the sheriff’s office, district attorney / state attorney, and others to take action.
In Norfolk, Virginia, a church day care director was arrested and is being prosecuted for the death of a 7 week old child (Dylan Cummings) who died while under the care of Little Eagles Day Care Center which is a day care center affiliated with Bethel Temple Church of Deliverance. The director and another employee are being charged with child neglect. Attorneys for the day care director and the employee report that the Defendants cared for the child in a nursery and truly cared for and loved the child enrolled in the day care center. Prosecutors paint a different picture of a day care center that did not follow regulations and that placed children in a crib in a windowless closet. It is expected that the case will focus, in part, on medical issues involving the cause and preventability of the child’s death. It was reported that Dylan died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The prosecutor will argue that the child was unsupervised for 2 1/2 hours and that he was allowed to sleep on his stomach which puts an infant at risk for