Tuesday

Infant Dies at Unlicensed Daycare

Business Owner Tests Positive for Marijuana - Manchester, Tenn.
The state has closed an unlicensed Coffee County daycare center after an 8-week-old boy died at the business. Investigators with the Manchester Police Department confirm the woman who ran the business, Edna Murray, tested positive for marijuana when they arrived at the center.The child, Denton Brown, died while in Murray's care at her home on Oak Street in Manchester.

According to a police report, the woman put the baby down for a nap. When she checked on him an hour later, he wasn't breathing. Murray called 911 and performed CPR but was not successful in reviving the child.
~ Special thanks to nc for contributing this Article.

11 comments:

kc said...

How awful. I am in this area of TN and I am forever seeing ads in the childcare section of Craigslist of parents searching for childcare and "cheap" is their only requirement. You get what you pay for!

Clo said...

.... it could very well NOT be the caregivers fault.

Did she test positive for doing weed at all, or that she had been when the child died?

If she did nothing to hurt the child, she is already feeling guilty enough without people blaming her without knowing whats going on.

kc said...

In my opinion, trying to take care of 10 children at once is the same as neglect. 10 children cannot be well cared for by one person alone. Having sole responsibility for 10 children in your unlicensed daycare is just as negligent as smoking marijuana, I think.

Philly Nanny said...

Clo:

There's no real way to tell how long ago a person smoked if they test positive for marijuana. It can stay in the system for up to 2 weeks.

I personally believe that smoking marijuana (although I choose not to do it) is no worse than drinking in terms of impairment, it IS illegal and a childcare provider should know better than to use it.

Whether or not it contributed to the death of the child is really debatable, but it could be a symptom of her disregard for the law as far as day care regulations go.

Anonymous said...
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Repost for Anon said...

Anonymous said...

i know this lady she wouldnt do anything to hurt the children she has helper so the ten children she is not watching all on her own

Apr 30, 2009 5:53:00 PM

ericsmom said...

Yeah but she knew she is REQUIRED to REGISTER her center. That is the other point. She knew she was breaking the law. She tried to be sneaky. And have more kids in her care. She wasn't supposed to have ten kids in her house, even with a helper

MinuteMuggle said...

Dude: you should not take care of children high. End of story. Can you say "loser????"
Geez.

runt said...

Agreed..you should never use drugs or drink while caring for children.

KC,my mom raised 10 kids alone..she did a fabulous job. We were all stair-steps..we did not have nannies or close family around..maybe you are not capable of caring for 10 children,but many parents are. Your statement was a bit broad for my taste.
My mother was anything but neglectful.

we all fall down said...

Ericsmom, Do not be fooled just because someone has a paper from the state displayed on a wall. There are just as many accidents in "registered" daycares as there are in unregistered daycares. Just this past week an infant died in a California daycare but you sure did not see it all over the front page newspaper..why..because it was a licensed facility and ..well we can't have that info leaking out now can we..cause accidents don't happen in daycares sanctioned by the government!!
This death could SIDS but until you know why the child died..really..how can some of you make such statements??

sofysofy123 said...

There's a reason we license daycares. Yes, children die in licensed daycare but are more likely to die in unlicensed ones. "children in unlicensed situations are 1.7 times more likely to die or be seriously injured, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research." http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/home/headlines/93212524.html