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A MOTHER and daughter have been arrested after two toddlers drowned in a swimming pool at their daycare.
A third child was rushed to the hospital after they too fell into the pool at the San Jose, California, residential childcare center.
Nina Fathizadeh, 41, and her mother Shahin Gheblehshenas, 64, were charged with child neglect resulting in death, child endangerment, and criminal negligence, cops say.
The mother and daughter ran a day care out of Gheblehshenas’ home called Happy Happy Daycare.
First responders rushed to the home on October 2 after several children were allegedly left unattended and fell into the pool.
Authorities said that Gheblehshenas’ husband left a gate leading to the pool open sometime between Sunday and Monday morning, according to charging documents.
Gheblehshenas allegedly knew that her husband regularly watered the plants and had a habit of not closing the gate behind him but did not check ahead of the children’s arrival on Monday, the documents said.
After the first child showed up, Gheblehshenas said she left for a doctor’s appointment. It turns out the appointment was actually scheduled for the next week, the police reports say.
Charging documents further allege that the matriarch did not come back even though the at-home daycare was short-staffed that day due to another staff member’s absence.
Instead, Gheblehshenas went to her daughter’s home where the two operated another unlicensed daycare that Fathizadeh’s two children and two other kids were attending, cops allege.Â
Back at the daycare at Gheblehshenas’ home, Fathizadeh let the kids outside to play in the backyard while she finished making tea and oatmeal.
Police said that she could not clearly see the children while she was in the kitchen.
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“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 documents say.
Fathizadeh removed one toddler from the shallow end of the pool and started CPR.
She then woke up her brother, who was sleeping in his bedroom in the home. He found the two other toddlers floating in the deep end of the pool, took them out of the water, and called 911.Â
Two one-year-olds, listed in charging documents as Jade and Payton Doe, died at the hospital.
The third victim, listed as John Doe, was expected to survive.
Gheblehshenas and Fathizadeh turned themselves in to the San Jose Police Department on Friday.
Their daycare had repeatedly been criticized for not properly watching the kids in its care, NBC affiliate KNTV reported.
It received six citations, including two Type A, which are reserved for the most serious violations, since it opened in 2021, according to the outlet.
Allegations included caring for more infants than their license allowed, and that a staff member didn’t go through the appropriate criminal record clearance.
There were also concerns in 2021 about gaps that needed to be addressed on either side of the pool gate.
The daycare had also been issued a Type B citation in September 2023 for failure to document proper monitoring for sleeping infants, according to KNTV.
An arraignment for the mother and daughter is scheduled for December 6.