Bucks County DA's Office: Woman Charged After 11-Month-Old Girl Dies At Illegal Day Care At Her Home
UPPER SOUTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- A woman is facing involuntary manslaughter charges in connection to an August death of an 11-month-old girl at an alleged illegal day care at her home. The Bucks County District Attorney's Office announced the arrest of 48-year-old Lauren Landgrebe on Wednesday.
Prosecutors say the baby girl died from asphyxiation on Aug. 27 after she had been placed incorrectly in a car seat and left alone for about two hours. An investigation found that Landgrebe placed the girl in a car seat at 1 p.m. for a nap, but the baby became fussy since she hadn't eaten.
Landgrebe, according to prosecutors, gave the baby a bottle at 2 p.m. and since the baby couldn't hold it, she propped the bottle on a towel. Landgrebe then left the room and spent two hours near her swimming pool on her cellphone and on social media.
Her husband came home and found the baby unresponsive and called 911 but the child was pronounced dead at the hospital later that day.
While her husband was on the phone with 911, Landgrebe deleted a photo of the baby napping from her phone, which she took shortly after 2 p.m.
Investigators later recovered the photo, which they say showed the baby slumped in the car seat with the chest strap around her neck. The car seat's leg straps -- which would have prevented the girl from sliding down -- were not in use.
"Her actions that day were reckless," Bucks County Deputy District Attorney Monica Furber said.
The baby was one of eight children in Landgrebe's care, prosecutors say.
Landgrebe told police she had been running the day care out of her home for years, but the investigation found that she never reported income from it.
Eyewitness News attempted to speak with two women walking into Landgrebe's home Wednesday evening. One woman said Landgrebe is a good person but declined to speak on camera.
The investigation found that Landgrebe's been collecting Social Security Disability payments for about 10 years in which she claimed she wasn't able to work. She's accused of receiving at least $2,000 stemming from the Social Security Disability payments, but prosecutors say the total amount is still be calculated.
Landgrebe is facing charges of endangering welfare of children, operating a day care facility without a license, theft by deception and tampering with evidence.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 12. If convicted, Landgrebe could spend the next 10 years in prison.
CBs3's Kimberly Davis contributed to this report.