Katie’s Kids Learning Center in Delray Beach will temporarily close down beginning Monday. The day care center lost over $200,000 in state funds following the death of Haile Brockington on August 5. The 2 ½-year-old girl died from hypothermia after a van driver accidentally left her strapped to her car seat in the pickup van for several hours on a day when the temperature at one point went above 90 degrees. Officials are continuing to investigate the tragic accident.
Meantime, Brockington’s family is suing daycare center owners Barbara Dilthey and Kathryn Muhammad and driver Amanda Inman for Palm Beach County wrongful death. Inman, who is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, is accused of failing to unstrap Haile from her car seat and not making sure she got out of the van when the kids were dropped off at the day care center. It wasn’t until around 4pm when the van arrived to take the kids’ home that one of the students discovered Haile still in her seat.
In their Delray Beach wrongful death complaint, Brockington’s parents contend that Katie’s Kids failed to provide a van helper or another employee to assist the driver and neglected to properly train its employees. They also claim that this was not the first time that children had been forgotten at the center or on the bus and that there have been times in the past when van drivers signed or forged Haile’s mom’s signature on transportation logs.
Palm Beach Wrongful Death
If your son or daughter while under the care or supervision of another party, such as a school, day care center, summer camp, community center, recreational facility, a club, a person, or another entity, you may have grounds for a Palm Beach, Florida wrongful death lawsuit.
In Florida, you have two years from the date of death to submit your Palm Beach County wrongful death complaint. It is important that you begin exploring your legal options as soon as possible.
Katie’s Kids, without money or kids, to shut down Monday, The Palm Beach Post, September 3, 2010
Haile Brockington’s family files wrongful death lawsuit, WPTV, August 13, 2010
Coalition Pulls Funding From Katie’s Kids Learning Center, WPBF, August 19, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Read the Wrongful Death Lawsuit (PDF)
Katie’s Kids Learning Center, Palm Beach County Health Department