An Ohio woman is prison-bound after she pleaded guilty in connection with the suffocation death of a 7-month-old baby boy at her unlicensed home daycare business.
The infant, Grant Simmons, died on March 10 after he was in the care of Melanie DiMarzio at her East Canton home, where she ran her daycare with her husband, per the Canton Repository.
Grant suffocated after he had been put down to nap on a bed instead of a crib, Assistant Stark County Prosecutor Daniel Petricini said in court, according to the newspaper.
DiMarzio, 46, was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday, October 27, on charges of involuntary manslaughter and endangering children following her guilty plea.
As part of her plea agreement, a first-degree involuntary manslaughter charge was dismissed, the Canton Repository reported. If she was convicted of the charge, she would’ve faced up to 11 years in prison.
“Due to her negligence, my son is gone forever,” Grant’s mother, Melissa Williams, who goes by Missy, wrote in a Tuesday Facebook post.
DiMarzio was arrested on July 21, months after Grant’s death, Cleveland 19 News reported. She was taken into custody by East Canton police and the U.S. Marshals Service.
DiMarzio is currently out on her existing bond arrangement but has been ordered to report to jail on November 9 to begin serving her five-year sentence.
On March 10, police initially responded to a 911 call reporting Grant was found blue and wasn’t breathing after he went down for a nap at DiMarzio’s home, which served as a cash-only daycare. He ultimately died at a hospital.
“My client is extremely remorseful for what happened,” DiMarzio’s defense attorney, Daniel Funk, said at her sentencing hearing, according to the Canton Repository. “Part of her reason for pleading today is she did not want the family to have to go through any more. This is an unfortunate tragedy.”
In court, Williams reportedly said, “I trusted Melanie.”
“I’ve known her and her family for years. I trusted her with one of my most prized possessions, my beautiful boy, Grant,” she added, per the newspaper.
DiMarzio was accused of running her daycare without proper sleeping arrangements for babies and toddlers in her care, according to court filings viewed by NBC affiliate WKYC. She also allegedly didn’t use baby monitors.
She told investigators that she’d care for about five to 10 children each day at her now-closed business, the TV station reported.
In her Tuesday Facebook post, Williams wrote “Learning about everything that happened that day, will turn anybody’s stomach,” referring to when Grant died.
Grant was Williams’ youngest son, according to a GoFundMe created by her friend, Toni Cooper, in support of Grant’s burial and memorial expenses.
Grant “left this world way too soon,” the boy’s online obituary reads.
“Though Grant’s time here was not nearly long enough, he touched the lives of all those who were lucky enough to know him. Grant was full of life and was always smiling,” the page continues.
