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Officials: 15-month-old who died after day care incident didn't choke on toy

By ActionNewsJax.com
By ActionNewsJax.com

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Children and Family Services released a report Wednesday regarding the death of 1-year-old Malik Baker, who died the day after an alleged incident at a Jacksonville day care.

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His father, Earl Baker, said the boy choked on a toy while at day care and was rushed to the hospital.

DCF's latest report said medical records showed no foreign object in the child's airway when he arrived at the hospital.

The report also stated that the toy Malik was seen playing with before the incident was too big for him to swallow.

The toy had also already been taken away by a day care staff member after Malik was observed sitting on the floor, chewing on the toy, according to the DCF report.

Minutes later, Malik began coughing. When day care staff went to check on the 15-month-old, he became limp and unresponsive, the DCF report said.

According to the report, day care staff checked Malik's mouth with their fingers. When they found nothing there, staff called 911 and began trying to resuscitate him.

EMS transported Malik to the hospital, where medical personnel continued to work to revive him and regain a pulse, according to the DCF report.

The DCF report said that medical professionals determined Malik's brain had ceased to function. He died on Sept. 21 after he was taken to the hospital.

The DCF report said Malik’s cause of death is currently unknown and autopsy results are pending.

Action News Jax dug into the history of the day care and found it has been licensed since 2016. Since then, DCF has found several violations.

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The owner did not have director credentials in 2017, records said. According to DCF, it was fixed at the time of inspection.

The last inspection by DCF – just 10 days prior to this incident – revealed several violations, including no documentation showing child care personnel had begun training for the child care industry within 90 days of employment.

Three staff members didn’t have the annual form signed for child abuse and neglect reporting requirements.

The new report from DCF also indicated that between April 2013 and April 2018, there have been at least 10 reports involving the family, and Malik was most recently taken out of the family's care in April 2018.

Graveside services for Malik Baker will be held on Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. at Chapel Hills Memory Gardens on St. Johns Bluff Road.

 

Cox Media Group

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