Police say an adult at the daycare facility sat on a large beanbag chair, unaware that “baby Leo” was underneath it. Leonardo was trapped, and suffocated to death.
Advertisement
“It just baffles me, makes me wonder, she must not have felt him, she must not have heard him”, Sanchez said.
Danielle Sanchez, Leo’s mother, said: “how many kids were in the room?”
“I’m pretty sure her heart sank down past the floor”, he said of the employee.
It’s unclear how long the boy was under the beanbag chair.
Instead of holding a celebration Saturday for what would have been Leonardo Sanchez’s second birthday, his family will hold a funeral.
“I still hear him”, Dan Sanchez told the magazine.
Police and paramedics came to the West Jordan child center after getting an emergency call. She says she’s not upset with the employee, but the daycare should have done more to prevent this from happening.
Of note, Danielle Sanchez told of a previous incident in which Leo fell at the daycare and had to get stitches on his lip, but said that incident was determined to be an accident.
“No words adequately describe the depth of the sorrow we feel”, the daycare center said in a statement released through an attorney.
Leo’s death has devastated his family, where he was the third out of four children.
He said he’d like to push for a new law in Utah named after his son, Leo’s Law, that would keep beanbag chairs out of day care centers. At this time, the employee is not facing any charges.
Little Leo Sanchez was dropped off at West Jordan Child Center by his mom in West Jordan, Utah, according to Denver Fox affiliate KDVR-TV.
A GoFundMe page was created on behalf of the boy’s family. We know the family well, we grieve with them, and we pray that God will provide them the comfort and peace they inevitably will need’. “I don’t know how or why that happened”. Attendees are encouraged to bring a birthday gift, which will be donated to a local children’s hospital.
Advertisement
Heartbroken mother Danielle is imploring parents to love, hold and embrace their children.
