Charges have been laid against the operator of a B.C. daycare in the 2017 death of a 16-month-old boy, police said Thursday.
Macallan Saini, also known as Baby Mac, was attending an unlicensed and unregistered daycare in East Vancouver when he was found unresponsive in a playpen.
Susy Yasmine Saad, 41, has been charged with two counts of failing to provide necessaries of life and one count of fraud over $5,000, police said.
She appeared in court on Wednesday and was released. Her next appearance will be in September.
“The details of this file are just gut-wrenching,” Const. Tania Visintin, with the Vancouver Police Department, said in a release.
“As nothing can take away the pain of losing a child, we hope the family can find some closure knowing that charges have been laid.”
In a statement through their lawyer Thursday, Baby Mac’s parents said they are grateful the Crown has approved charges against Saad but they could not comment further.
Details of what may have led to the child’s death surfaced in 2018, when his parents filed a lawsuit against Saad, accusing her of negligence.
In B.C. Supreme Court documents, mom Shelley Sheppard claimed she arrived at the Olive Branch Daycare on Jan. 18, 2017, to pick up her son and saw a fire truck in front of the house.
She claimed the daycare was overcrowded with children, and that Saad had hidden one child behind a couch while others were strapped to chairs. Sheppard claimed she then followed a firefighter upstairs, and that’s when she saw her son lying on the floor.
The lawsuit alleged Baby Mac had been left unattended and had choked on an electrical cord.
Saad denied all allegations in her response, claiming she acted in accordance with the Community Care and Assisted Living Act at all times.
“The defendant denies that a duty of care was owed to the plaintiff Sheppard and denies that Sheppard suffered or will suffer in the future the injuries, loss, damage or expense as alleged or at all, and puts the plaintiff to the strict proof thereof,” Saad’s response said.
Baby Mac’s family also sued the province and Vancouver Coastal Health, both of whom filed responses with the B.C. Supreme Court denying any responsibility.
None of the allegations has been proven in court.