Mother, daughter arrested in connection with San Jose home daycare drowning deaths
SAN JOSE -- Police in San Jose have arrested the mother and daughter co-owners of a home daycare business where three children fell into an unattended pool earlier this month, with two toddlers drowning.
San Jose Police said the preliminary investigation into the October 2 drownings showed that 41-year-old Nina Fathizadeh and 64-year-old Shahin Gheblehshenas were suspected of neglecting the children at their Happy Happy Daycare on the 1000 block of Fleetwood Drive in the city's Almaden Valley.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said before the incident, Gheblehshenas had gone to a second, and unlicensed daycare located at her daughter's home, leaving the children at their licensed daycare under her daughter's supervision. Another daycare worker had called in sick that day, and four children at the Happy Happy Daycare were being watched only by Fathizadeh.
Fathizadeh was preparing breakfast while one child was in a crib and three others were left unsupervised in the rear patio where the fence surrounding the pool had been left propped open, the District Attorney's Office said. Police said officers also found gardening equipment and other potential hazards in the yard.
Neither Fathizadeh nor Gheblehshenas had checked the gate before the children were let into the backyard, even though the gate had been left propped open to water some plants, the DA's office said.
When Fathizadeh went into the yard at least five minutes later, she found one of the children floating in the pool and began CPR. Meanwhile, Fathizadeh's brother - who had been at home and was alerted to the emergency - found two 16- and 18-month-old girls floating unconscious in the pool, according to the DA's office. They were later pronounced dead.
Per county protocol for all deaths involving children, the SJPD Homicide Unit in conjunction with the District Attorney's Office began a joint investigation into the incident.
Following the investigation, homicide detectives authored arrest warrants for Fathizadeh and Gheblehshenas. On Friday, both suspects surrendered at San Jose Police headquarters. They were both booked and given an upcoming arraignment date.
"There is a responsibility to watch over little children in your care like a hawk," said District Attorney Jeff Rosen in a press statement. "Now it is our responsibility to make sure that these defendants are held accountable for this avoidable and heart-breaking tragedy."
The incident left many first responders shaken.
"Nearly 24 hours after this incident, all of us are in shock. Feeling the trauma, not just for the families involved, but also as a community," said Officer Steven Aponte, a spokesperson for the department said at a press conference the following day.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Van Den Broeck #3829 or Detective Estantino #4339 of the San José Police Department's Homicide Unit via email: 3829@sanjoseca.gov and/or 4339@sanjoseca.gov or at 408-277-5283
