Co-Owners Of San Jose's Happy Happy Daycare Arrested, Charged In Drowning Deaths Of 2 Toddlers

[Sugar Cookie]

A mother and daughter who co-own a San Jose day care center where two toddlers drowned have been arrested and charged, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

Authorities say Nina Fathizadeh nor her mother,Shahin Gheblehshenas, nor any other adult were watching the three young children at Happy Happy Daycare when they fell or jumped into the pool on Oct. 2.

According to the district attorney's office, Gheblehshenas had gone to another unlicensed day care that morning, leaving four children under the care of her daughter. While Fathizadeh was making breakfast, she left one child in a crib and let the three others into the rear patio play area unsupervised and out of her sight. Investigators say five minutes later Fathizadeh discovered one of the children floating in the pool. As she performed CPR, her brother - now at home - found the two other children, under two years old, floating unconscious in the deep end.

Two of the toddlers, Payton Cobb from Hollister and Lilian Hanan from San Jose, were later pronounced dead. The third child was left in critical condition but is expected to make a full recovery.

Investigators say it was determined that a propped open pool gate allowed the toddlers to enter the pool. They say neither owner had checked the gate before the children were let into the backyard despite it being propped open before to water plants.

Co-owners of San Jose's Happy Happy Daycare arrested, charged in drowning deaths of 2 toddlers

Investigators say a gate was left open that allowed the three toddlers, who were left unsupervised on a patio area, to get into the pool.

abc7news.com

 

[thuumpr]

WTF! You're watching three children and two are dead.

Any future referrals will be for the death penalty!

 

[GoneWest]

WTF! You're watching three children and two are dead.

Any future referrals will be for the death penalty!

And it’s a miracle it wasn’t all three.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A 67-year-old woman in California is going to prison after two toddlers attending her unlicensed in-home day care were left unattended and drowned in a backyard pool.

A jury in Santa Clara County deliberated for just two hours before finding Shahin Gheblehshenas guilty on three felony counts of child endangerment, authorities announced.

The verdict followed a three-week trial that included testimony from more than 30 witnesses.

Gheblehshenas's daughter, 43-year-old Nina Fathizadeh, co-owned the day care. She previously pleaded guilty to child endangerment charges earlier this year.

As Law&Crime previously reported, Gheblehshenas left her home that morning to go to an appointment then to another unlicensed day care operated at her daughter's residence. Another worker had called in sick that day, leaving Fathizadeh as the sole caregiver at her mother's home.

Gheblehshenas knew her husband regularly watered the plants and occasionally did not close the pool gate, prosecutors said. She didn't check the pool gate before the day care opened that Monday morning and didn't ask anyone else to check on it either, court documents obtained by NBC's Bay Area affiliate KNTV stated.

At Gheblehshenas's day care, the children played in the living room before Fathizadeh opened the sliding glass door and directed them into the backyard. She had a view of the pool gate — still propped open — yet she did nothing to close it, the charging document alleges.

Then she walked to the kitchen to finish preparing tea and oatmeal. From the kitchen, she could not see the children or the backyard. She was there for at least five minutes before going to the backyard to check on the children, the document said.

"Upon seeing that the gate to the pool was propped open by a drying rack, [Fathizadeh] went to the pool and located John Doe floating in the shallow end," the charging document said.


She removed the boy from the pool and attempted CPR before moving him to a living room, calling 911, and trying CPR again.

She then woke her brother, asleep in his bedroom, for help. He went to the pool and found two toddlers floating in the deep end. The brother removed the children from the pool, called 911, and attempted CPR.

The children were taken to hospitals in critical status. Two of the victims, 18-month-old Peyton Cobb and 16-month-old Lillian Hanan, died despite lifesaving efforts. The third child survived.

Investigators determined the pool's safety gate had been propped open, allowing the children to access the water. Authorities said neither Gheblehshenas nor Fathizadeh checked the gate before allowing the children outside, despite prior knowledge that it had been left unsecured.

Jurors waste no time convicting woman who let toddlers drown at her unlicensed day care

Shahin Gheblehshenas was found guilty on three felony counts of child endangerment after two kids drowned while at her unlicensed day care.

lawandcrime.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Lillian Hanan

Peyton