An operator of a B.C. daycare has pleaded guilty in the 2017 death of a baby boy in her care.
On Monday, the BC Prosecution Service confirmed that Susy Yasmine Saad pleaded guilty to one count of failing to provide the necessaries of life to nine children, including 16-month-old Macallan Saini, also known as Baby Mac.
The other children involved in the case cannot be named due to a publication ban.
Saad was originally charged in August 2020 with two counts of failing to provide necessaries of life and one count of fraud over $5,000.
Her next appearance is set for May 4 to determine a date for sentencing.
Details of what may have led to Baby Mac’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 had arrived at the Olive Branch Daycare in Vancouver on Jan. 18, 2017 to pick up her son and saw a fire truck in front of the house.
She claimed the daycare had been crowded with children, and that Saad had hidden one child behind a couch while others were strapped to chairs. She alleged she then followed a firefighter upstairs, and 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 the negligence allegations, claiming she acted in accordance with the Community Care and Assisted Living Act at all times.