LENOIR, N.C. (WBTV) - A child care center in Caldwell County where a toddler died earlier this week had its license suspended on Wednesday, documents show.
Creative Beginnings of Lenoir was required to close by the end of the day Wednesday, May 21 after the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services suspended the business' license. The suspension decision was "based on the agency's findings that the public health, safety, or welfare requires emergency action," the suspension order read Monday.
Wednesday's decision came after a 16-month-old girl died at the child care center on Monday, May 19. Lenoir police said they suspect the toddler died after going into cardiac arrest.
The child was reportedly rushed to Caldwell UNC Healthcare, where they were pronounced dead. An autopsy was being performed to determine the exact cause of death.
The child care facility, which also identifies itself as a preschool, was ordered to inform all parents and customers that it would close by the end of Wednesday. Subsidized child care payments were also ordered to end on Wednesday, the state said in their letter.
Lenoir police previously said that Creative Beginnings is fully cooperating with the investigation into the child's death.
The child, whose name was Maddy, according to her mother, was attending the child care center for the very first time on the day she died.
Creative Beginnings posted a message on social media, expressing grief for the girl.
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The Lenoir Police Department arrested a woman on Wednesday in connection with the Monday death of a 16-month-old child at a child care facility in Caldwell County.
Police said on Wednesday, May 21, they charged Alexandra Coffey, 29, for her alleged role in the death of a 16-month-old girl. Coffey was an employee at Creative Beginnings of Lenoir, where the toddler died two days earlier after what police believed was a cardiac arrest.
Officials charged Coffey on Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter. She was being held at the Caldwell County Detention Center under a $500,000 secured bond.