Day care employee at center of Savage infant death investigation

Savage daycare's license suspended after infant's death

An infant died at a Savage daycare facility, and now police are warning parents to closely monitor their children as a "precautionary measure." State officials also suspended the license for Rocking Horse Ranch Childcare. FOX 9's Babs Santos has the latest.

SAVAGE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Savage police are investigating an infant death after a boy was found unresponsive at Rocking Horse Ranch day care. 

Infant death investigation in Savage

What we know:

An affidavit filed by Savage Police seeking a search warrant details two prior incidents before the infant died. In both incidents, the same employee was caring for an infant girl who got sick and had cared for the infant boy before he died. 

According to court documents, police responded to Rocking Horse Ranch on Sept. 22 for an infant boy who was not breathing. He was taken to the hospital where he later died. 

Infant's death suspicious, court documents say

Dig deeper:

The affidavit states the boy's death was suspicious, as there were some incidents that were similar to the infant boy's death. 

All three incidents revolve around the same employee. Police interviewed her and had her recreate the incidents using a doll. 

In the first incident, the affidavit details how the employee had put an infant girl down for a nap but later heard the girl scream and went to check on her. The employee started burping the infant, who then threw up on her. The employee noticed a "blood-like substance" in the infant's vomit. 

The employee cleaned the infant, and was placing her back in her crib when she noticed the infant had turned "white purple" and wasn't breathing. The employee said she tried to wake the infant up and the infant vomited. The employee then called 911. 

The second incident involved the same infant girl as the first incident. The employee said that the infant was already in her crib when she arrived at work, and was sleeping on her stomach. The employee then said that the infant wasn't sleeping and seemed to be "crying, but nothing was coming out." The employee then picked up the infant and burped her, and she vomited, which again included "bloodlike substances." 

The employee said that the infant was lethargic and not herself. The infant's parents then picked her up. 

The third incident was when the infant boy died. The employee from the other two incidents stated she had prepared the infant boy's bottle, but didn't feed him. The employee said the infant was constipated over the weekend and stated that the infant's mom gave him melatonin to help him sleep, which the employee noted as "weird." 

A second employee fed the infant boy and put him down for his nap. Later, the first employee said she heard a noise from the infant's sleeping area, like the infant was shaking the crib. She went in there and found the infant standing in the crib. The employee put him back to sleep. 

Then, the employee heard the infant boy crying and asked a different employee to check on him, court documents say. That employee found the infant unresponsive with "apparent bloodlike substance" pooled on his mattress. The first employee called 911. 

Investigators note in the affidavit that the first employee has an apparent history of 911 misdials and reporting incidents falsely. 

Possible cause of death for infant

What we know:

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office did an autopsy on the infant boy, and preliminary results show a lack of physical injuries and common poisons in the blood toxicology results. The final cause of death has not been released. 

Rocking Horse Ranch hired a mold testing company to test its infant room. The tests concluded that there was no significant mold or environmental hazards in the infant room. 

Savage Police filed a search warrant for the company's records. 

Rocking Horse Ranch's license suspended

The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families suspended the license immediately for Rocking Horse Ranch Childcare after two instances of emergency medical services needed for infants. One of the infants died. 

The suspension was issued based on the determination that children at the facility are at imminent risk of harm.

Department of Human Services records show in June, authorities found hazardous objects were accessible to children, areas used by children were not in good repair and staff orientation training did not include all required items. 

In March, records show children did not have access to personal hygiene products, food did not comply with nutritional recommendations of the USDA and products to control diaper rash were not properly labeled.