Parents of Roswell Boy Who Died at Daycare File Lawsuit

The parents of a Roswell toddler who passed away at an Alpharetta daycare have filed a lawsuit in Fulton County State Court against the owner of the residential program.

Jeffrey and Heidi Stephens are seeking damages, which are unspecified, from Ms. Janna’s Daycare owner Janna V. Thompson in the death of their 3-year-old son Thomas Maxwell Stephens, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They have also requested a jury trial, the newspaper reports.

Alpharetta police responded to a call just before 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 8 at the residential daycare, which is located at 145 Shady Grove Lane.

Officers arrived onto the scene and found Thompson performing CPR on Thomas, who was found not breathing and unconscious outside the facility, according to an incident report released by the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety.

Thomas was rushed to North Fulton Hospital where he died the next day. It was determined the boy died by strangulation on a piece of twine attached to a slide at the daycare, according to WSB-TV.

Thompson told the responding officer she did not know “where he got the string” that was found around his neck. Thompson also told officers that she left Thomas “outside by himself for a few minutes while she took another child inside for some discipline,” the incident report states.

Alpharetta police launched its investigation into the death the day after the child passed away. Thomas’s death forced the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, or DECAL, to issue an Order for Intended Emergency Closure of a Family Day Care Home.

DECAL on July 30 revoked the license of the daycare. An investigation by the state agency “determined that rule violations contributed to the death of a child that was not medically anticipated,” said DECAL Chief Communications Officer Reg Griffin.

The violations cited by DECAL weren’t the first rule violations issued by the state.

Records show DECAL inspectors during a licensing study visit in January cited the center, which had been up and running in the same location for 25 years, for safety violations around its playground.

Specifically, hazards such as a wheel barrow located against a fence, an unraveled water house, excessive tree limbs and pine cones were observed throughout the outdoor play area. Two protruding nails to the right of a wooden ladder on the wooden climber were also cited.

According to the AJC, Thompson had seven children in her care on the morning of Thomas’s death, despite the fact that she was only allowed to have six. She also left two infants and a toddler inside while she took four other children outside, the AJC reports.