GUILTY MI - Damien Lewis, 5 mos, dies of Ambien OD, Springfield, 26 Sept 2007

Unbelievable! Ambien! And the day-care provider was a family friend!
From WOODTV 8, Grand Rapids, Michigan:
"GRAND RAPIDS -- Susan Powell is making a scrapbook of her grandson, Damien Lewis. Pictures show the 5-month-old's big brown eyes and his smile.

"I can just hear him laugh when I look at that one," she told 24 Hour News 8.

Powell is making the scrapbook for Damien's big sister so she never forgets the little guy.

"There was just no reason for anything to be wrong."

Nothing was wrong with Damien. He had just cut his first tooth and was healthy and happy. That is why his death September 26 at Sunny Daze Daycare in Springfield was so hard to understand.

But the toxicology report revealed Damien had been given Ambien, a prescription adult sleep aid. Ruth Ann Jarvis, a family friend who took care of Damien at her licensed daycare, was arrested and charged in his death."

Link:http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7361025&nav=menu44_2

:furious: :furious: :furious: :furious: :furious:

Can you imagine?

Maybe that's why they call it Sunny "Daze" daycare. The idots drug the kids into a dazed, (and in this case dead) stuper. I hope she fries!

This kind of thing has happened several times across the country. I remember the Kaitlyn Shevlin case because it happened while I lived there...another baby had died years before at that daycare and the case was reopened.

The ones I have heard about usually involve giving benadryl to the babies because they are keeping too many children and they want the babies to sleep all day...it's all about the money and it makes me sick!


Another article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21604507/

SewingDeb said:

This kind of thing has happened several times across the country. I remember the Kaitlyn Shevlin case because it happened while I lived there...another baby had died years before at that daycare and the case was reopened.

The ones I have heard about usually involve giving benadryl to the babies because they are keeping too many children and they want the babies to sleep all day...it's all about the money and it makes me sick!


Another article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21604507/

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Sadly, Deb, I think it's not just all about the money, although that may motivate some. A larger part of the problem, in my opinion, is that unfortunately, babies and children can be very annoying to deal with. Face it, they are a lot of work. Not to mention the fact that incessant crying and whining is difficult to tolerate, and that infants and young children must be constantly attended to, and entertained. I believe there are innate filters that people possess, making it easier to tolerate the stress of dealing with their own flesh and blood, but that it is much more difficult to tolerate the stress of dealing with someone else's child.

Not that any of this excuses abusive behavior in any way, shape or form. But I can see how people with poor judgment or absent morals can end up doing things like this. I think it explains why we hear about so many abuse/neglect deaths that occur by someone other than a parent or close relative. Obviously, we hear of plenty of abuse/neglect deaths by biological parents as well, but I believe that many of these occur because those internal filters are not present or not functioning due to drugs or alcohol.

It's a sad, sad thing and I firmly believe that this woman and others like her should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that more and better safeguards should be put in place for children in daycare. What a horrible, horrible violation of trust this was! This is every working woman's nightmare. I know I constantly agonized over disturbing possibilities like this when my kids were in daycare.

Unbelievable and very sad.

Natasha,

You are right. I work from home for that very reason. Only one of my four has ever been in daycare and that was only for a few months. I left work and nursed her every time she woke up...lol.

I think many try to watch too many at a time. I know how much energy and patience it takes just taking care of your own, I can't imagine adding many more to the equation.

Daycare is a big business. Too bad it's not thoroughly regulated. I mean, as a parent, you check out the school and weigh the cost vs the care. You can walk into a location and go, "This place is clean, all the teachers are well dressed and everyone is smiling." You can go to another location and say, "This place has a child screaming in thier high chair, that girl looks barely 18 and she's a teacher, but it cost $400 dollars less to enroll my child here."

Each state has thier own regulations set for the daycares within. Most here in Georgia do a dance around what is acceptable and what is not. While a location may be clean and tip top, they may be out of ratio when it comes to the number of teachers per child in one room. But it's a business and the bottom line in business is....to make money.

The sad fact is, most people that work at a daycare are paid barely above minimum wage. I'm not saying that attracts people with bad work skills, but it sure seems to be the norm. Nearly anyone can work at a daycare. After all, it's not a hard concept to watch children right? But the sad fact is, not everyone is mentally geared to do the task. I heard a lot of tales from one location that my child went to. One young girl used to lock her kids in the classroom closet if they misbehaved. And we are talking about toddlers. Another would tell her 8 year olds that they were going to hell if they disrespected her. Now you might call both disciplinary acts minor, but either shouldn't be done.

My way of thinking, employees should be given a mental test of reasoning prior to being hired for the position. One child is screaming to get out of thier high chair while another child is playing with the lighter they found in your purse. Which child takes priority? Doesn't take a rocket scientist.

natasha-cupcake said:

Sadly, Deb, I think it's not just all about the money, although that may motivate some. A larger part of the problem, in my opinion, is that unfortunately, babies and children can be very annoying to deal with. Face it, they are a lot of work. Not to mention the fact that incessant crying and whining is difficult to tolerate, and that infants and young children must be constantly attended to, and entertained. I believe there are innate filters that people possess, making it easier to tolerate the stress of dealing with their own flesh and blood, but that it is much more difficult to tolerate the stress of dealing with someone else's child.

Not that any of this excuses abusive behavior in any way, shape or form. But I can see how people with poor judgment or absent morals can end up doing things like this. I think it explains why we hear about so many abuse/neglect deaths that occur by someone other than a parent or close relative. Obviously, we hear of plenty of abuse/neglect deaths by biological parents as well, but I believe that many of these occur because those internal filters are not present or not functioning due to drugs or alcohol.

It's a sad, sad thing and I firmly believe that this woman and others like her should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that more and better safeguards should be put in place for children in daycare. What a horrible, horrible violation of trust this was! This is every working woman's nightmare. I know I constantly agonized over disturbing possibilities like this when my kids were in daycare.

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Great post...

If these people can not handle the job of watching children then they need to find something else to do. You're right, staying home with children all day everyday is a very hard thing to do (I stay at home with my 3). But if you can not "entertain" children then don't open a freaking daycare.

I hope this lady gets everything that is coming to her and then some. My heart goes out to the parents and family of this baby. They will be in my prayers. My youngest will turn 6 months this Sunday. If I lost him I don't know if I would survive. Maybe, because of my 2 girls.

Mine too. That's why after my first child was 6 months old, I went from full time to part time and when I had our 2nd child I quit my part time job to stay home with them.

From June 2008:

http://wbck.blogspot.com/2008/06/jarvis-sentenced.html

Ruth Ann Jarvis was sentenced to seven to 15 years Thursday. The 49-year old was convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter and Second Degree Child Abuse in the death of Damien Lewis.

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