8-month-old in unlicensed Missouri day care likely died of asphyxiation, court documents reveal
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — An 8-month-old infant likely died of asphyxiation after being left in a car seat last week by a child care provider in southwestern Missouri, court documents reveal.
Deborah Lundstrom, 47, of Springfield, was arrested and charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter, several counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of operating a day care without a license.
On the day the boy died, Springfield police said Lundstrom was caring for nine children under the age of 3. In Missouri, unlicensed day care providers are only allowed to supervise a maximum of six children at a time.
An autopsy concluded that the child likely died of asphyxiation or suffocation, according to court documents. The infant was in a car seat when he stopped breathing and the medical examiner concluded that it was possible that the car seat’s chest clip had prevented the child from being able to breathe, eventually causing him to die of asphyxiation.
The only visible injury was a “horizontal segmented line” on the front of the infant's neck. No other injuries were found on the child, and it is believed that no force was applied to the injury on his neck, according to the medical examiner.
Court documents revealed that Lundstrom, who had been caring for children in an unlicensed day care from her home for 18 years, initially lied to police about leaving the kids alone. She later revealed that she regularly left the children in her care alone while she went and picked up her son from school.
According to court documents, Lundstrom loaded the seven youngest children into their car seats on March 2, some of whom were sleeping. She placed the oldest two children on the floor of her bedroom in front of the TV and left for 12 minutes. When she returned, she noticed one of the infants was not breathing. She performed infant CPR, tried to call the child’s mother and called 911.
The child was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. According to the Springfield Police Department, an autopsy was conducted by the Greene County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Lundstrom is currently in Greene County Jail and does not have an attorney listed as representing her. She is set to appear in court Monday.
She faces charges of first-degree involuntary manslaughter; one count of endangering the welfare of a child-death of a child; eight counts of endangering the welfare of a child creating a substantial risk; and one count of operating a child care facility without a license.
Jordan Meier covers public safety for the Springfield News-Leader. Contact heron Twitter @Jordan_Meier644.