A 47-year-old childcare operator in Springfield, Missouri was arrested after an infant died in her home on March 2.
Officers arrived at the residence on North Washington Avenue after receiving a report of an infant not breathing. They performed CPR on the baby until he was transported to Springfield hospital, where the 8-month-old child died.
Deborah Lundstrom, the daycare operator, was not home to witness the incident. She initially told investigators her 18-year-old daughter was home with the children, but the teen told officers she had gone to a park with her boyfriend.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that Lundstrom allegedly left nine children unattended in their car seats for approximately 12 minutes while she left to pick up her son at Hillcrest High School.
According to the Greene County Medical Examiner’s Office, the cause of the child’s death was asphyxiation. The doctor said it was possible the car seat chest clip had prevented the baby boy from breathing. There was no indication that the infant died from an assault.
Lundstrom faces charges of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death, eight counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and operating a child care facility without a license.
In the state of Missouri, a person is allowed to operate a child care facility without a license only if they care for six children or less.
Savannah Banks, a parent whose 2-year-old child was in Lundstrom’s care, told KY3 News, “It is so heart-shattering that anyone could do this to any children. It’s very eye-opening. I will never put my child in a position like that again.”
Dirk Rowe, a neighbor of Lundstrom, said he never expected an incident such as this one to occur so close to home.
“It’s always shocking when something like this happens,” said Rowe. “It’s a quiet neighborhood. We enjoy being here. We enjoy the neighbors. I’m surprised this would happen here.”
