Cops detain day care owner, establishment shut down following death of baby girl

Police have detained the owner of an Ogle, East Coast Demerara day care centre as they step up investigations into the death of seven-month-old Oriyah Gravesande last Tuesday.

Child Care and Protection Agency officials have also shut down the still-unlicensed establishment pending the outcome of the investigation.

Seven-month- old Gravesande reportedly sustained injuries after falling off a bed and becoming entangled in a sheet. She was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

An autopsy, conducted yesterday, revealed that the baby had sustained head injuries as well as compression injuries to the neck.

Relatives of the dead child said they were informed that the injuries were caused by a fall. A post mortem found that the baby died from suffocation and hemorrhaging.

Some sources with experience in child care said that the seven-month-old should have been placed in a crib.

Big Smith News Watch has confirmed that the day care centre is still to be licenced.

The child’s mother was at work on Tuesday when she received a call to go to the Industry Health Centre no, since Oriyah was “short of breath.”

On arrival, she reportedly saw the baby lying motionless with a respirator over her face.

The baby girl was taken to the GPHC where she was later pronounced dead.

A relative claimed that they are still to speak to the managers of the day care.

The mother said that she has been taking her child to the centre since around January.

It is alleged that when a relative went to collect baby Oriyah about two weeks ago, the child had a swollen forehead.   According to a male relative, no one at the centre explained how the baby girl had sustained the injury.

“They stopped us from going in and brought the child to the door,” he said.