SAN JOSE, Calif. (WKRC) — A mother and daughter who ran a home day care center were arrested after three toddlers walked through a safety gate and two of them drowned.
The children drowned on October 2 in San Jose, California.
Shahin Gheblehshenas, 64, and her daughter Nina Fathizadeh, 41, both face charges of child neglect resulting in death, child endangerment, and criminal negligence, according to police.
The pair ran a home day care out of Gheblehshenas’ home called “Happy Happy Daycare.”
A child-safety gate leading to a pool was left open the night before. Gheblehshenas allegedly knew that her husband often gardened in that area and often forgot to close the pool gate. She never checked the gate before opening the day care and she didn’t ask anyone else to check either, according to documents.
Gheblehshenas left the home that morning believing she had a doctor’s appointment. She then learned the appointment wasn’t until next week, but she chose to not return to the day care, even though she knew another worker was absent and that her daughter was concerned with understaffing, according to NBC Bay Area.
Instead, she went to her daughter’s home, where the two had a second unlicensed day care. There they watched Fathizadeh’s two children and at least two other children that were scheduled to be there that day.
Back at Gheblehshenas’ day care, where her daughter was, the children played in the house before eventually being let outside.
Court documents allege that Fathizadeh saw the pool gate open, yet she still decided not to close it.
She then went to the kitchen for at least five minutes to finish making tea and oatmeal. There was no sight of the children from the kitchen.
After finishing, she went back outside to check on the children. That’s when she found one of the kids floating in the shallow end.
She then removed the boy from the pool and attempted CPR before taking him into the house. She called 911 and attempted CPR again.
Her brother, who was asleep in another room, was woken up to help. He then went to the pool and found the other two toddlers floating in the deep end.
He removed both of the children, called 911, and attempted CPR.
All three children were taken to the hospital in critical condition. Two of them died at the hospital while the third survived.
Arrest warrants for the two suspects were authorized and the two self-surrendered on October 13.
Happy Happy Daycare had been cited for staffing and monitoring violations in the past. State licensing officials had previously raised concerns about the potential for children to access the backyard pool.
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