New York Artist's Baby Dies at First Day of Unlicensed SoHo Daycare
A baby put down for a nap in an unlicensed daycare Monday never woke up, police say, leading the city to shut down the center, which was apparently housed in a loft in SoHo.
Karl Towndrow, the three-month old son of visual artist Lee Towndrow and Scholastic producer Amber Scorah, was fed a bottle of breast milk and put down for a nap on Monday morning at SoHo Child Care, the New York Times reports.
The Daily News reports the daycare’s facilitator, Maryellen Strautmanis, tried to burp Towndrow after feeding him, but “he was fussy,” so she placed him in a bassinet for a nap around 11:45 a.m.
An employee reportedly found the baby unresponsive, with blue lips, around 12:15 p.m. He was later pronounced dead at Lenox Hill Hospital.
It was the baby’s first day at the daycare, which was reportedly recommended to Scorah by friends. It was also her first day returning to work from maternity leave, according to the Daily News.
The Times reports that 14 other children between the ages of three months and three years were present at the day care.
Police say the business was never licensed, though it had apparently been open for more than a decade—according to its Yelp page, Strautmanis began operations in 2001. The facility, located on the second floor of a walk-up building on Greene Street, was shut down by the city Tuesday.
Strautmanis refused to speak to police without her attorney present Monday, the Times reports. The city is reportedly waiting for the results of an autopsy on the baby before pursing any charges against her.
