Owner of overcrowded daycare arrested after infant dies | Crime

ROCK HILL - Police in Rock Hill have arrested a daycare owner after a six-week-old baby was found unresponsive at an overcrowded home daycare and later died at the hospital.

According to an arrest warrant issued by the Rock Hill Police Department, 57-year-old Elizabeth Truesdale was arrested for violating a safety code of operating a family home childcare in excess of number of children allowed.

Emergency crews were called out to the Elizabeth Home Daycare on the 1110 block of Pearson Drive in early December after six-week-old Zaden Jones was found unresponsive by Truesdale.

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When police arrived, they found that the daycare had four times the number of children it was allowed, officers told WBTV. 

A police report stated that officers found 20 children under the age of five-years-old in the residence with Truesdale and her assistant.  According to Lieutenant Brad Redfearn of the Rock Hill Police Department, the residence was a daycare center that was only zoned for five children.

Zaden Jones was found with a mixture of blood and milk coming out of his nose. Police told WBTV that Truesdale attempted CPR on little Zaden while her assistant called emergency crews.

Previous story: Infant dies after being found unresponsive at overcrowded daycare, police say

Redfearn told WBTV that violating the safety code is a misdemeanor and is punishable by six months in jail.  Rock Hill City Zoning came out to the home after Zaden's death and posted a stop work order on the residence.

The Department of Social Services is conducting a parallel investigation. 

Zayden's mother, Laressia Bennett, said she believes Truesdale runs a good daycare and she would allow her three-year-old son to return. Bennett said she had no ill-will toward Truesdale or her assistant.

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