MORE DETAILS EMERGE IN BABY’S DAY CARE DEATH
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A Noble day care owner told investigators she was stressed when she threw a 5-month-old baby into a bouncy seat. Authorities say injuries that led to the girl’s death are not consistent with the owner’s explanations.
NORMAN — A Noble day care owner told investigators she was “stressed” when she threw a 5-month-old baby into a bouncy seat. Melissa Clark said she also dropped the baby earlier in the day on a tile floor.
Authorities say injuries that led to Braelyn Zachary’s death on Sunday are not consistent with Clark’s explanations.
Clark was charged Monday in Cleveland County District Court with first-degree murder in the baby’s death.
The Department of Human Services closed the day care at 505 Rolling Meadows in Noble after the infant was found unresponsive following a 911 call on July 19.
Braelyn was taken by ambulance to Norman Regional Hospital then transferred to a Tulsa hospital, where she died Sunday.
A court affidavit says Clark initially told investigators she had put the child down for a nap and went to check on another child when she heard a gurgling sound, returned to see about the baby and found her unresponsive.
The day care owner said she fell in a hallway of the home earlier that morning while holding the infant, but told investigators the baby was not injured.
She said she later dropped the baby on a tile floor in the kitchen while she was trying to make a cup of coffee.
According to the affidavit, Clark told investigators she gave the baby a bottle about 12:40 p.m. and put her in the bouncy seat until she was almost asleep, then moved her to a blanket on the floor.
In the same interview, the affidavit states, she told investigators that shortly after 1 p.m. she was standing about three feet from the bouncy seat when she threw the baby into the seat. The baby’s head hit a metal bar, she said.
Court documents say a Tulsa doctor told authorities the child suffered severe head trauma and that her injuries were consistent with being shaken. None of Clark’s stories explained the baby’s injuries, the doctor said, according to the court affidavit.
Clark told authorities she was caring for five other children on July 19, ranging in age from 11 months to 5 years.
According to the affidavit, Clark told investigators with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation that she was stressed that day and “felt like a loser” because of marital, financial and family problems.
According to DHS records, workers had made about a dozen visits to the day care over the past year, mostly finding no violations. The most recent visit before the baby was injured was in May, when no violations were found.
No violations were found in a February visit. In January, the only “noncompliance” noted was that fire and tornado drills were not documented.
After the baby was taken to the hospital, DHS workers noted in a visit that an infant had been placed on a blanket on the floor to sleep and that a portable travel bassinette was used for an infant, both considered to be against DHS regulations.
Clark is being held on bail set at $750,000. A preliminary hearing conference has been set for 1 p.m. Aug. 9.