LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A Lafayette day care owner is expected to plead guilty more than seven months after a 13-month old girl died in her care.
Debbie Keyes is charged with reckless supervision by a child care provider, a felony, as well as operating a child care home without a license, a misdemeanor.
She is scheduled for a guilty plea hearing on Jan. 23 at 2:30 pm, in which Keyes and her attorney will plead guilty to one or both of the charges, according to court staff.
Call 6 Investigates was unable to reach Keyes’ attorney or the Tippecanoe County prosecutor for comment Friday.
Mazie Joan Valenta, age 1, died April 25 after she stopped breathing at a Keyes’ unlicensed day care.
Keyes put Mazie down for her nap in a crib she knew was broken, according to court documents.
Her mother, Stephanie Valenta, told Call 6 Investigates Kara Kenney in October she hoped to avoid going through a trial.
RELATED | CALL 6: Mom warns of broken equipment at day cares following death of 1-year-old daughter
Valenta and her husband are also expecting another baby girl this January, Melody Joy.
She hopes to educate parents and child care providers about the dangers of broken equipment.
“It was pretty sickening to know that she knew about it and didn’t do anything about it,” said Valenta in October. “I have two pack ‘n plays collecting dust in my garage that she could have used, if she just would’ve asked.”
Valenta wishes she had checked the crib where Mazie slept at day care.
"Of course, we now look back and we should have known what she was sleeping in, we should have taken that initiative and we didn’t, and I just wish we would’ve known,” said Valenta. “My husband could have fixed that crib in five minutes.”
Mazie’s death is not the first time a child has passed away due to equipment being used incorrectly at a day care.
Conor Tilson, 5 months, died at an unlicensed Carmel day care in 2013 in a broken portable crib.
Taliah Brigham, 10 months, died in April 2016 after she was found incorrectly strapped into a car seat at a Speedway child care provider.
As for Debbie Keyes in Lafayette, FSSA issued a cease and desist letter following Mazie’s death, accusing her of operating illegally.
The Tippecanoe County Department of Child Services reported to our agency that you were caring for 10 unrelated children and 2 related children on 4/25/2016 when a serious incident occurred at your home,” read the letter to Keyes.
If a child care provider cares for six or more children unrelated to the provider, they need a license, according to FSSA.
Keyes is still caring for children, but is now operating legally, according to FSSA.
HOW TO CHECK A CHILD CARE FACILITY:
- Plug in a provider's name to ChildCareFinder.IN.Gov and look for complaints, inspection reports and any pending enforcements
- Use your eyes and ears when visiting. Are they following safe sleep? Is equipment working? Are children strapped into their high chairs?
- Drop by the child's day care unexpectedly during the day. What is seen at pickup and drop off may be very different than what's happening during the middle of the day
- Ask to see the provider's license or registration, which should be posted in a public area. If the provider is on probation, it will say so on the license, along with the reasons why.
- Ask to see a copy of the day care's discipline policy. Corporal punishment is not illegal in the state of Indiana
- Ask what their current child-to-staff ratio is. Experts say accidents are more likely to happen when staffers are watching a lot of children.
- Ask if the provider is part of the state's voluntary rating system, called Paths to Quality. The state said this helps guarantee they're meeting and/or exceeding licensing requirements regardless of type of day care
- If you use an unlicensed facility, know they do not have to submit to background checks, CPR training, safe sleep training and other requirements. Ask to see proof your provider has completed these.
- For more information, go to ChildCareIndiana.org
