5-Month-Old Boy Dies At Gresham Daycare

GRESHAM, OR — Five-month-old Esai Jubel Loneman died at a Gresham daycare Wednesday afternoon and his mother wants to know why.

Speaking to KATU News, Melissa Perkins, Esai's mother, said she dropped him off at Mi Familia Childcare in the morning on Aug. 30. Perkins reportedly checked on Esai around 2 p.m. but was told he was asleep. Around 4 p.m., the daycare called Perkins.

"They just said, 'Something happened to him.' I said, 'What do you mean?' They said, 'You just need to come down here,'" Perkins told KATU.

It's unclear at this time what caused Esai's death, though KATU reports he had breathing problems immediately after his birth. Perkins reportedly told KATU that doctors never diagnosed Esai with any medical issues and added that his breathing problems had lessened over the past few months.

"I just want to know, where was he sleeping, what was he doing before, was anything wrong," Perkins told KATU. "She could have called me and I could have came and got him."

KATU reports the Mi Familia facility is a registered daycare with no complaints in its 10-month history, and that there have been no confirmed signs of neglect or abuse.

A GoFundMe account has been setup to help Perkins with medical, funeral, and burial costs. Colinda Lennox, the person responsible for creating the account, said Perkins is a single mother to three other children and over the past few years has also suffered the loss of her father and brother.

"One day, everything, your whole world is shaken," Perkins told KATU. "What do you do from here?"

Image via GoFundMe