Boy, 2, dies after being put down for nap, family says in lawsuit against Calumet City daycare
CALUMET CITY, Ill. (WLS) -- A family is accusing a suburban daycare of negligence after their 2-year-old boy died after a nap.
Jaylin Branch Jr. was memorialized on the day he would have turned 3 years old. It is a death his parents and their attorneys said did not have to happen. Because while the little boy suffered from epilepsy, they believe the Calumet City daycare center where he suffered his final and fatal seizure failed to follow the procedures put in place to handle exactly this type of situation.
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Jaylin Branch Jr. died on Feb. 20, after suffering a medical emergency while at Grandma Jones' Daycare in Calumet City, according to his family.
A police report confirms officers responded to the daycare on Sibley Boulevard at about 1 p.m. Body camera video showed Calumet City police officers responding to Grandma Jones' Daycare.
His family said Branch was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was about five months old.
"Did they give him his emergency medication?" the boy's mother, Jasmine Bailey, said. "That's what he's supposed to have the moment he started seizing."
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The boy was allegedly put down for a nap at about noon, and, nearly an hour later, he was found unresponsive with blue lips by daycare staff, according to a police report obtained by ABC7.
The boy, known as "Baby J" by his family, was rushed to Ingalls hospital, where he spent four days on life support before finally being pronounced dead.
"He's a jack of all trades. He would do a front flip, a cartwheel, jump off the slide, dance, all while eating a cookie," the boy's father, Jaylin Branch Sr., said.
Nearly a month after his death, Branch's family is suing the daycare for negligence, improper training and failing to take the proper precautions while Branch was sleeping.
The boy's parents and their attorneys spoke out Thursday, moments after officially filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the daycare center, accusing a Grandma Jones' Daycare employees of leaving the sleeping children unsupervised for too long. They provided a copy of the action plan filed with the daycare center with instructions on how to handle any potential seizures. Chief among them was a timely administration of his emergency medication.
"Do we have emergency medication for him?" a police officer can be heard saying on body camera video. "Don't worry about the address... the emergency medication."
That medication, however, appears to have gone unopened, as the body camera video showed a day care employee reach for it only after the responding officer asks for it.
Moments after running it out to the ambulance, the officer asks another employee, "Do you know if he's had the emergency medication for seizures today yet?
"No. Not yet," can be heard as a response in the body camera video.
The family has also demanded that the state of Illinois open an investigation into the daycare facility.
Branch's family is represented by attorneys Cierra Norris and Evan Finneke of the C. Norris Law Group.
"Had someone followed the action plan, had someone just given proper supervision, intervention could have happened in this incident and Baby J would have still been alive," said Evan Finneke, lead counsel for the family.
In a statement, the daycare said:
"First and foremost, we are deeply saddened by the death of Jaylin Branch and express heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.
"We are reviewing the lawsuit that has been filed against the Grandma Jones' Daycare facility in Calumet City, IL and will respond accordingly through the legal process.
"As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are unable to provide any further comment."
In addition to seeking monetary compensation for the family, attorneys Thursday called on DCFS to launch an investigation into Grandma Jones' Daycare, and to shut it down if necessary.
