Report: Illegal day care tended to baby who died

Unlicensed facility often families’ only option, experts say

The West Park home where 2-month-old Ashton Petion died on Sept. 5 was an unlicensed day care, according to a report from the state Department of Children and Families.

Investigators are working to figure out the cause of death. They saw no signs of trauma, according to the report. Autopsy results are pending, Broward Medical Examiner Dr. Craig Mallak said Wednesday.

Illegal child care centers are a decades-old problem, in Broward and across the country. In 1995 and several

times since, Broward investigators have initiated sweeps of reportedly illegal centers after reports of suspicious incidents. Parents often opt for an unlicensed site when they believe there are few other options that are reasonably priced and convenient to their homes and workplaces, said Mary Jean Woika, a Broward College early childhood assistant professor.

The illegal sites generally cost parents less and are in neighborhoods where low-income families live, Woika said.

“You find a local lady down the street who’s watching kids, and you ask her, ‘Can you watch mine

too?’ ”

According to the Center for American Progress, 38 percent of Floridians live in “child-care deserts,” census tracts where there are more than 50 preschool-age children under age 5 but few or no child care providers. The West Park home where Ashton died is not in one of those deserts; its census tract shows 242 children in the area and 272 day-care slots. There are five licensed providers and one licensed family day care home.

DCF lists 200 legal child-care providers in Broward. The county’s child-care licensing rules allow from four to 10 children in a home-based day care, depending on their ages.

Ashton’s death was the second day care-related death in Broward this summer. Two-year-old Noah Sneed died July 29 when a day care van driver left him in his seat on a 90-degree day. She had disabled a safety alarm that would have warned her there was still a child remaining in the van, an investigator’s report said.

Broward County officials are investigating the status of the home where Ashton died, at 4620 SW 22nd St. in West Park. Public records show the home is owned by the estate of Lois Terrell, who died in 2017. Neighbors say her adult daughter lives in the home.

It’s not clear how many children were in the house when Ashton died, but there were two caregivers whose names were blacked out by DCF. The agency said there were two previous reports related to one of the caregivers, in 2012 and 2014, but “neither were verified for any maltreatments.”

According to the report, one of the caregivers had given Ashton a bottle and burped him about 11:30 a.m. before he took a nap. The caregiver placed him on his side in an adult bed with a pacifier.

The caregiver checked on him during his nap. But when the worker tried to wake him up about 3:15 p.m. for a feeding, he did not respond. The caregiver called 911 and attempted CPR, according to the report.

Emergency personnel took Ashton to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, but he was pronounced dead at 3:57 p.m.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Ashton’s funeral and has raised more than $8,000.