MATTYDALE, N.Y. (AP) - A day care provider in central New York has been charged in the death of a toddler she was watching.
A 24-year-old woman was charged Thursday with first-degree manslaughter in the death of 23-month-old Lennox Santiago, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported.
The woman was caring for Lennox at a day care she was running out of her apartment, according to the sheriff’s office. She called 911 on July 17 to say the boy had fallen out of a chair and hit his head, officials said.
Lennox was found unconscious and breathing with a weak pulse. He was rushed to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, where he underwent brain surgery for a severe head injury. Lennox died two days later.
The woman later admitted to detectives that she struck the boy’s head on a coffee table, according to the sheriff’s office.
It’s not clear whether the woman has an attorney who can comment on her behalf.
The woman was also arraigned on violating her probation for a drunken driving-related arrest from 2017. Police said she drove her car over a pedestrian crosswalk and through a wooden fence.
A judge sent the woman to the Onondaga County Justice Center last week on $25,000 bail or $100,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.
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