Summer is a time when many working parents have to put their children in day care. Anita Laflore thought her child Amareon Williams would be safe at Tricia’s Playhouse day care in Michigan City, Indiana, since his little sister was already a student at the facility. But Laflore was horribly mistaken; her son Amareon’s body was found hanging from a jump rope at a play fort in the backyard of the day care center.
“I just hurt for my baby. I hurt for him so bad, because Amareon was a special kid. I just wish I could have protected him. I wish that I could have been there. I wish I could have saved him because he’s gone now. He didn’t deserve that,” Laflore said.
Laflore has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility in which evidence shows the state issued repeated warnings to the day care, yet it remained open.
“Six weeks prior to this tragedy, six serious violations were found which caused the state to put them on probation. This is an unspeakable tragedy. This is a tragedy that never should have happened,” stated Laflore’s attorney, Mark Novak.
Police are investigating the death of the boy and the conditions at the facility. In addition to suing the facility, the family is also considering suing the state for not shutting the day care down after the repeated violations. The day care facility has now been ordered closed by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
According to Marni Lemons, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, deputy director of communications and media, Tricia’s playhouse was in fact on probation at the time of the boy’s death. When the FSSA inspected the facility, they found several violations which included missing certifications for staff members and that the day care failed to report “suspected physical abuse, sexual abuse, and child neglect or child exploitation as required.”
