The family of an infant who died at a Miami-area day care center says video footage of the incident proves child care workers were not properly trained to perform CPR to save his life.
Security surveillance video from the Lincoln-Martí Child Care center in Homestead, Florida, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, shows staff members giving 9-month-old Tayvon Tomlin rescue breaths after he was found unresponsive in the facility’s infant room.
However, those breaths were not accompanied by chest compressions. One of the workers instead rubbed the baby’s back. All while his 4-year-old brother stood by and watched. Tayvon was pronounced dead less than two hours later at a local hospital.
Tayvon’s parents have filed a lawsuit against the center alleging negligence. The complaint obtained by Atlanta Black Star accuses Lincoln-Martí of abandoning its duty to adequately care for the baby under Florida law.
They also want the workers involved to be criminally charged.
“This case is about holding the daycare accountable, bringing this family justice, and ensuring that our community’s daycares are safe so this never happens to another family again,” family Attorney Michael Levine told Atlanta Black Star in a statement.
The boy’s parents, Keira Whorley and Devonte Tomlin, describe him as an “amazing baby boy” who was smart and active.
Tomlin and Whorley dropped him to the day care facility on July 18, where he was placed in the infant room with seven other babies. The camera in the room was broken, the lawsuit alleges, and only one staff member was supervising the eight infants, a violation of state law.
The worker assigned to the infant room, Rosario Soto Perez, periodically received assistance from another staff member who was “coming in and out to help with feeding.”
Around 12:50 p.m., Perez discovered Tayvon unresponsive with his eyes open. Video footage shows Perez standing and holding the baby while giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. However, CPR protocol calls for first placing a person on a flat, hard surface before providing rescue breaths.
Two other workers rush to Perez’s side. One of the women calls 911. The other takes the baby from Perez at one point and holds him over to the side and rubs his back, the video shows.
Emergency personnel arrived at Lincoln-Martí nine minutes later. Tayvon was airlifted to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2 p.m., court records show.
The complaint against Lincoln-Martí Community Agency Inc., the Miami-based company that owns the Homestead day care and 49 other centers and schools across Florida, accuses the workers and center of several deficiencies, including failing to properly supervise Tayvon and being short-staffed and out of compliance with state law regarding day care operations.
Source: Devasted Florida Parents Want Day Care Workers Who Botched CPR on Unresponsive 9-Month-Old Charged
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