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An investigation into the death of a 3-month-old infant at an Apex day care has uncovered "numerous violations of home day care regulations."
On Oct. 26, Apex Police responded to a call that an infant, Eliana Navy, had ceased breathing at Judy's Home Care located at 1300 Laura Duncan Road. Eliana was transported to Western Wake Hospital in Cary where she was pronounced dead.
Working in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services and Child Protective Services, Apex Police determined that 17 regulations were in violation at the day care operated by Judy Lucas.
Among the violations listed were, "Number of children exceeded number allowed," "Adequate supervision was not provided for children who were awake" and "Soiled diapers were not placed in a covered, leak-proof container which was not emptied and cleaned daily."
As a result of the violations, the Division of Child Development suspended Lucas' child care license effective Oct. 27; deeming Judy's Home Care "not a safe and healthy environment for children" and "conditions in the home represent imminent danger to children."
Although Lucas is not talking, a long time friend says the toddlers death while in Lucas' care has been devastating.
"She's very upset and feels horrible about the situation," Shelly Peptis.
Peptis' relationship with Lucas goes back almost two decades.
"I grew up with her kids and pretty much stayed with her since I was 3," Shelley said. "She's also watched all my children.
"I have an 11-year-old, 9-year-old, and a 2-year-old, and I would leave them with her now -- any time, any day."
The Apex Police Department is awaiting a final report from the Medical Examiners office for an official cause of death before concluding the investigation into this incident.
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By Huggs and Giggles Home daycare Goldsboro NC on 11/12 09:16 PM
I can understand being under stress media does exaggerate a bit we need to get all the facts It is unfourtunate what happened it can happen to anyone of us. we need to give this woman the benefit of the doubt and see what the reports show on the cause of death is going to be before we judge anyone.
By Eddie on 11/10 12:51 AM
I may be over the top but let me try to put my views in perspective. I am a Program Manager in Family Day Care in Australia. I see all too often FDC providers that operate to their own standards and not to the State Regulations or National Quality Assurance Satisfactory Standards which are not that hard to achieve as they are minimum standards. Consequently children are placed at risk of injury. What is less apparent to the general public is that childcare is NOT babysitting and many at home or Family Day Care providers as well as childcare centres do little more than babysit children. This is detrimental to children’s development. With all the research we have today on the early years it dumbfounds me that the general public still view childcare as somewhere to put the kids while the real work in society gets done. Quality childcare IS early education and our planet and us as a human species could be so much better off if we wired the brains of our children to seek out knowledge, to have a thirst for learning to explore their environments and reach their potentials. Something that could be better achieved than we are currently doing during the formative years of children’s lives 0-3 and 3-5. What really gets to me is that if a parent asks for no pickles from McDonalds and gets pickles, they take their burger back and complain. How many parents of Ms Judy complained that she was over numbers or breaking any of the State Childcare Regulations? How many parents using childcare now are aware they are paying for a service they are not getting? How important is child safety? How important is our children? How inportant is our future? Peace
By Eddie on 11/08 11:30 PM
OK I might of gone a bit over the top but you get what I mean.
By Eddie on 11/08 10:29 PM
Alright what about mothers of children that are raped by the fathers and know about it but don't do anything about it or murderers, rapists or terrorists. Lets talk about all their wonderful attributes. I am sure thay are not bad all of the time and I am sure they treat most people most of the time with the love and respect they deserve. It's only when they do something wrong that they are bad isn't it? This seems to be the argument of most people. Even if it was SIDS MS Judy has been doing this long enough to know how to put a child into a cot correctly.
By Carley on 11/08 09:12 PM
Judy Lucas has always been a great child care provider. Yes she treated every child with respect, love, and patience. When we look at the media and we see windows with something leaning against it (like maybe a door)it really looks like an unkept home. The violations exposed nails, open wiring ect. I agree sounds horrific.BUT WAIT... She was in the middle of remodeling the whole lower level of her home ie. family room, spare bed room, and bathroom into a more accomodating center with a kitchenette, sleeping area, play area, bathroom and washroom all on that one level. This part of the home is totally off limits to where the children were kept on a different floor level and it was blocked off. but it is part of the home so the inspection has to put it into a violation. As far as a diaper on the couch, This inspection did not happen on a typical day but a day with emotional stress from a terrible tragidy. She may have been changing a diaper when she noticed the 3 month old. JUST REMEMBER... THE MEDIA JUST WANTS A STORY AND WILL TWIST ANYTHING.
By Chris on 11/05 11:04 AM
The lady admitted to placing the child to sleep on her side!!!
By Loving Mom on 11/05 07:24 AM
EDDIE - If my child died in Ms Judy's care and the cause turned out to be SIDS (which it very well may, in this case) then I wouldn't be bashing her. I'd still sing her praises. How about you, me, and everyone else wait until the cause of death is determined? Most of those violations have NOTHING to do with what happened to that child. It's a shame how the media can just make it seem like there's a connection and people get sucked right in.
By Loving Mom on 11/05 07:18 AM
Did everyone who posted here read every single violation in the report? Did you?
By WhereforCare on 11/05 06:33 AM
This is a terrible, terrible tragedy about which people have provided very mixed comments. Whereforcare.com is the childcare & senior care ratings and reviews website where those who have already experienced good care can write about those experiences to help others, so if you have experience of good care, please write us a review.
By Eddie on 11/05 04:59 AM
OK Ms Judy may have been providing care for years and parents may be resposible for some of them but they are not licensed and being paid to look after someone elses child. I would hope she is beyond broken hearted because if she wasn't she would be a sociopath. Child Care providers, especially In Home Providers that only adhere to all the regulations when they know they have a licensing visit shouldn't be in business. Maybe if Ms Judy has been doing this for DECADES she is burnt out and not making sure all health, hygiene and other child safety regulations are being adhered to as she should be as a childcare licensee because childcare is a very demanding role. So demanding that even in this sad time some choose to defend a provider that clearly had more children than she was licensed for, provided inadequate supervision to the children in her care, and provided an environment that was unsafe and unhealthy that presented imminent danger to children. I don't feel any sympathy for licensed childcare providers that flaunt the laws and when a child gets injured or dies they plead their case and their sob story and people write in and say how wonderful they are. What crap. If it was your child Ms Judy had injured or had died whilst under her so called care you wouldn't be singing her praises.
By Heather Folden on 11/04 10:22 PM
If everyone would read the exact violations that Ms. Judy is accused of, they would realize that every parent (if we are honest with ourselves) is guilty of all of them. Ms. Judy is an Apex childcare institution. She kept one of my children years ago and I never felt like he was going to "daycare". It was more like taking him to the home of a loving relative. She truly looked after those kids as if they were her own, making wholesome meals, teaching manners (please, thank you, yes ma'am etc), helping with potty training, etc. I personally know that she gave people leeway on paying her when they needed it because she cared that their children were in a stable, safe place...YES, SAFE! It's a shame that the news story did not mention the DECADES that Ms. Judy has kept kids with absolutely no incidents and the probably thousands of kids that are happier, healthier and better behaved due to her influence and loving care.
By Loving Mom on 11/04 09:12 PM
Judy Lucas has provided in-home care for years and years. She is well-loved in the Apex community and loves those children like they are her own. She kept kids because she loved children, not because she had to. I know she is beyond broken-hearted. When I was doing my daycare research, I was amazed at how many facilities (both in-home and centers) had violations of some sort. It's not just this daycare - it's many of them. In fact, I'd wager a guess that many of our own homes would gather a few violations. No mother is perfect. No childcare provider is perfect. This is just tragic. For the parents, for the provider, for the people whose children were there and now they have to find a new daycare. Just try to keep in mind how the provider must feel, as well.
By Doris on 11/04 08:54 PM
My heart goes out to this family... They are my neighbors and are good people. I met the baby girl a month ago on one of their walks in our area... You trust people to care for our children, I am praying for them..
By Marcelo on 11/04 06:13 PM
My mom had a daycare at her house for 13 yrs and the kids/parents were like family to her! Just because somebody dropped the ball here, doesn't mean they're all bad..., assuming so is a sign of ignorance!
By Ruby on 11/04 05:47 PM
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to stay home or pay a nanny to take care of their kids. We rely on the state to ensure that licensed daycares are safe for our children! I'm horrified by this story.
By Dave on 11/04 05:16 PM
I agree 100%, I wouldn't put my kids in group daycare either!. And this place was licensed. Lot of good that does.
By Ariane on 11/04 05:12 PM
yet another reason not to put your child in some group daycare situation. i would never!
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