A Missouri mother is suing a local day care owned by a member of the city council over the death of her 3-year-old son, alleging that an adult employee at the establishment suffocated the boy to death with their legs or feet “in an effort to force him to sleep.”
The wrongful death lawsuit filed against Poppy’s Playhouse by Tara Williams on behalf of her son, Conrad Ashcraft, further claims that the day care was aware of and “approved of the technique” the employee performed that allegedly caused Conrad’s death. The employee accused of performing the allegedly fatal technique is not named in the complaint.According to a copy of the complaint, filed Monday in St. Francois County, the incident took place on Friday, May 16, at the establishment located in the 100 block of Mitchell Street in Park Hills, which is about 65 miles south of St. Louis.
Over the course of the day, Williams alleges, her son suffered “a fatal injury” that was “the direct and proximate result of negligence” on behalf of the defendant.
Lacey Hardie, Conrad’s aunt, told to station that her nephew was nonverbal with autism, and said it was a “nightmare” to think that the toddler was in pain but unable to vocalize his need for help.
Speaking to the amount of time Conrad’s well-being was allegedly ignored, Hardie said that nap time for kids at the day care was 12:30 p.m., but when his mother arrived at about 4:15 p.m. “and found him deceased,” he was still on the floor where the day care employee had allegedly forced Conrad to sleep.
