Tuesday, March 5, 2002
YOUNGSTOWN -- The death of a 3-month-old baby boy at a residential day-care facility on the city's South Side is not considered suspicious, said Dr. Jesse C. Giles, deputy Mahoning county coroner.
Dr. Giles said Monday that a final coroner's report is still pending but it appears that Francis Lamparty of New Middletown may have died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. There were no signs that he suffered any trauma, Giles said.
The child was found lying with his face on a crib mattress Feb. 26 by a 24-year-old woman left in charge of the day-care service at 33 Pinehurst Ave. while the owner went to a doctor's appointment, according to police reports.
She said the child had cried, she fed him a bottle and placed him in the crib. He cried again for five to 10 minutes. When she checked on him he was not breathing.
Sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, is the unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant, and usually occurs in the first year of life. Typically, babies who die of SIDS are found by caretakers who check on them as they sleep.
The day-care is not licensed, according to information from the State Department of Job and Family Services. In-home day-care services that serve six or fewer children are not required to hold licenses. The infant was one of eight in the home at the time of the child's death.
The state is investigating. Investigators have not received any complaints about the facility.