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Background: News footage of the Creative Beginnings day care center in Lenoir, N.C. (WBTV). Inset (left): Maddy, the 16-month-old who died on her first day at Creative Beginnings (GoFundMe). Inset (right): Alexandra Coffey (Caldwell County Detention Center).
In a tragic turn of events in North Carolina, the parents of a toddler who died at a day care are seeking justice through a lawsuit against the day care worker charged with manslaughter. The incident involves Alexandra Coffey, a 30-year-old former employee of Creative Beginnings, a day care center in Lenoir. The heartbreaking loss occurred on May 19, 2025, marking the first and last day 16-month-old Maddy Mitchell attended the facility.
Maddy’s parents have accused Coffey of gross negligence, claiming that her actions directly led to their daughter’s untimely death. On that fateful day, the lawsuit alleges, Coffey tried to make Maddy nap by placing her on a sleeping mat. When Maddy resisted, Coffey reportedly forced her back down, covering her head with a blanket and pinning her with her own body weight. The chilling accusation details how Coffey allegedly held Maddy’s legs down and laid her upper body over the toddler’s torso and neck.
The lawsuit further claims that Coffey remained in this position, oblivious to the danger she posed, as Maddy struggled beneath her. Maddy’s parents assert that Coffey continued to scroll through her phone, ignoring the little girl’s distress, until Maddy’s movements ceased.
After some time, Coffey reportedly got up, leaving Maddy unattended and unresponsive under the blanket. For three agonizing hours, Maddy lay motionless, unchecked, until Coffey finally revisited her, only to discover that Maddy had already passed away, showing signs of rigor mortis. Despite the arrival of first responders, it was too late to save the young girl.
After a while, Coffey got up, left Maddy on the floor, and continued her work at the day care. She did not check Maddy again for three hours while the girl was motionless under the blanket. When she finally checked Maddy, the little girl was “already dead” and in the early stages of rigor mortis. First responders arrived, but there was nothing left for them to do.
Maddy’s death was ruled a homicide, the cause stated as smothering from compression asphyxia.
Maddy’s parents are seeking a jury trial to determine compensatory and punitive damages. Coffey’s legal team has not yet responded to the filing in court.
Coffey’s involuntary manslaughter case is ongoing; she bonded out of the Caldwell County Detention Center not long after her arrest. Her next court appearance for her criminal trial has not yet been scheduled.
Local NBC affiliate WCNC reported that Creative Beginnings was shut down after the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services suspended the facility’s license.