The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has recommended that the owner of Little Learners Day Care, Denise Benn, face the charge of manslaughter over the death of 7-month-old, Oriyah Gravesande, who died of haemorrhage and compression to the neck.
This was confirmed by Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum during an interview. He related that the advice rendered by the DPP is to institute the charge of manslaughter and to have the suspect, Denise Benn, face the court soon.
It was reported that just about 12pm, on March 21, at the Little Learners Day Care in Ogle, Oriyah was seen in an unconscious state, just after she was seen panting for breath. She was subsequently rushed to the Ogle Health Centre, however, due to the severity of her condition, the baby was then transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Since then the grieving parents had explained that the child did have a cold but they found it difficult to believe that the ailment was responsible for her death.
The baby’s mother, Shavannie Gravesande had said that she believes that her daughter died as a result of the negligence of the persons there. As such, she wants action taken against those who were at the day care at the time of her daughter’s death, since she had a healthy baby girl full of life.
Further, she called for a full investigation into the matter, as the autopsy reported that her baby died from haemorrhaging and compression to the neck.
Since then, an investigation was carried out, which led to the arrest of the owner of the day care, who was questioned and later released on station bail. The file on the matter was sent to the DDP for advice and it was recommended that further investigation be completed. It was after the file was returned to the DDP that the aforementioned charges were recommended.
