Houston tragedy: Two babies die in separate day cares one day apart
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Houston authorities are probing the deaths of an infant and a toddler one day apart in homes the state says are being used as unlicensed day care facilities.
The victims were a 2-month-old boy and a 2-year-old girl. Houston Police, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Harris County Child Protective Services were investigating the deaths.
The boy was found Wednesday in his crib in a child-care facility operating out of a private home. The boy was identified as Leon St. Rose, according to the Houston Chronicle. There were no signs of foul play. The cause of death was pending an autopsy.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gwen Carter, a spokeswoman for the Harris County child welfare agency, told the Chronicle the day care where Leon died was not registered with the state’s regulatory agency.
The girl was scalded in a bathtub in an apartment Thursday. She was not identified. A helicopter took her to Memorial Hermann Hospital where she died.
A neighbor told MyFoxHouston Friday that she saw the ambulance, police and the girl’s mother.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“She was screaming ‘let me see my baby, let me see my baby,’ ” the neighbor said. “She was on the ground and just, ‘let me see my baby!’”
Carter said there was no day care registration for the apartment. She said authorities were looking for the couple who ran the day care.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services enforces day care regulations in the state.