Thursday, Sept. 11, 2003 | 11:17 a.m.
Authorities on Wednesday suspended the child-care license of a home where an 8-month-old boy accidentally hung himself on an electrical cord, and police are investigating to determine whether the child-care provider should be charged.
Aidan Baldwin, one of several children in Gloria Austin's charge, was found dead Tuesday afternoon in a crib. Police said the boy apparently got tangled in a cord from a nearby wall lamp and died after the cord became wrapped around his neck.
Detectives are investigating whether Austin was negligent in leaving the infant unattended at her home in the 4400 block of Casa Blanca Street in Paradise township, just west of Boulder Highway and north of Flamingo Road.
Austin had been licensed to provide child care since 1989 and had only one complaint against her since then. It was filed in May but was found to be unsubstantiated, county officials said.
When the home was last inspected, in July as part of its licensing renewal, there were some minor problems noted but no major health or safety issues that would warrant a notice of violation, Clark County Spokeswoman Stacy Welling said. There was no fire drill evacuation plan posted and there was a minor record-keeping violation, according to the inspection report.
One parent who uses the day care said Austin took good care of her children.
"This was just a horrible accident," said Lauren Lawson, who had two children in Austin's care before Tuesday's incident, and had nothing but praise for the home day care provider. Lawson arrived on the scene Tuesday, not knowing anything was wrong, and saw emergency flashing lights and uniformed officers.
"It was a real tense moment," she said. She said Aidan's mother, who she said seemed to be in shock, greeted her with the comment, "Don't worry, all the other kids are safe. Mine is the only one who passed away."
The front doorway of her single-story, cream-colored house is topped by a wooden sign that says "The Austins Live Here," with the "i" in "live" replaced by a heart.
A man who answered the door of the home Wednesday choked up as he explained that he and Austin were too upset to talk about what had happened.
Aidan's parents, who were making funeral arrangements Wednesday, also were too distraught to talk about their son's death, they said through an intermediary.
Police said that they investigate any time a death occurs in such circumstances. Aidan was in a crib alone, near a wall and a doorway. The electrical cord that caused his death ran along the side of the doorway from the floor to a wall lamp, said Lt. Jeff Carlson of the Abuse and Neglect unit.
Among the unanswered questions are how long Aidan was alone, whether the license that allowed Austin to operate a home day care covered the room in which Aidan was found, and how Aidan was able to reach the cord.
Clark County Social Services licensing supervisor, Suzanne Magleby said she could not comment on those issues, other than to say that those questions are part of the investigation.
Austin's home is one of 120 licensed family child-care centers in unincorporated Clark County. Family child-care centers are child care operations run out of homes.
Licensees in the county are inspected four times a year by inspectors from her staff of six, Magleby said. Austin was last inspected in July, she said.
In the city of Las Vegas about 135 family child-care providers operate under license, said Business Services Manager Jim DiFiore.
Licensees are inspected "from nuts to bolts," said Magleby. That includes making sure smoke detectors are working, blind cords are tied up, and electrical outlets are covered, she said.
There hasn't been a death at a county-licensed family child-care center for at least five years, Magleby said, "and that one was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome."
After an autopsy Wednesday, the coroner concluded that Aidan died of accidental hanging.
Police said they received a call at 3:11 p.m. Tuesday from a "hysterical" woman who said Aidan wasn't breathing. Detectives called the coroner to the home about two hours later.
Carlson said Aidan was sleeping in a crib in a bedroom out of the sight of the home care operator. Carlson could not say how long the child was unattended.
The cord was still plugged in, and the light to which it was attached still was hanging on the wall, Carlson said.
Carlson said that Aidan was alone in the room, and eight other children were elsewhere in the house. The license mandates that no more than six children be cared for at a time, although up to three children of school age can be added just prior to and just after school hours.
The home is on a tight-knit street where neighbors share Bible study, said Marylou Esquer, who has lived near the Austins for two years. She said she watched the "heartwrenching" scene Tuesday afternoon.
"The poor mother just fell in the street," said Esquer, who cried along with the parents.
Lawson said she had been sending her children to "Miss Jean," as Austin is known, for two years. She got Austin's name from a list of licensed providers in the county.
"As soon as I walked in the door, I knew that's where I wanted my kids," she said.
Her youngest child doesn't know what happened, she said, but her 3-year-old asked why the police were at the home, and why the parents were crying.
"I haven't told her yet," Lawson said. "I don't think I ever will. It would just serve to cause her nightmares."
She said police did a good job in keeping the children -- who were playing in the back yard -- away from the scene Tuesday.
She said she had to spend Wednesday looking for new child care. Since one of her children is 1 1/2, it was difficult to find a provider who would take both youngsters. She said most large child care providers accept only children who are potty-trained and over age 2.
"I was really stressing this morning," she said. "I did not want to separate my children at this time."
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