New England News

Friday, April 27, 2007

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Officials investigate death of 10-month-old

CONCORD, N.H. -- Police are investigating the death of a 10-month-old baby who was rushed from an unlicensed day-care center to the hospital.

The attorney general's office is assisting in the investigation into what police are calling an untimely death. But officials said that the investigation does not mean there was criminal wrongdoing.

Fire officials said that they responded to a 911 call at Little Einstein's Day Care in Concord on Monday afternoon. The call was for a baby having difficulty breathing.

The baby was taken to Concord Hospital and then to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, where it died. An autopsy has been performed, but the cause and manner of the baby's death has not been released. Officials said that more testing needs to be done.

Officials said that during the investigation, police discovered that the day-care center was unlicensed.

According to state officials, the owners of the day-care center, Christine and Jennifer Smith, have been caring for up to 10 children. Under state law, centers must be licensed if more than three children are being cared for. A certified letter was sent to the owners Wednesday telling them to shut down.

"When we find there are facilities that are running with more than three children, we move quickly to ensure that they move into compliance, either by closure or becoming a licensed provider," Greg Moore of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The day-care center owners said that the baby was in their care, but they don't know what happened. As of Thursday afternoon, they were still operating the day-care center, saying they knew nothing about the state's order for them to close.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)