A Texas mom has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Woodbridge Day School in Dallas where her 2-year-old daughter, Isabella Estep, died last year after choking on a small stone she picked up from the playground. The girl died on October 31, 2008. Her mother, Marcy Osorio, is alleging that the teacher's negligence and the daycare center's failure to make sure that they employed trained teachers, resulted in Isabella's tragic demise.

Teacher's Negligence Leads to Choking Death

This lawsuit, filed by Texas personal injury lawyer and my friend, Jeffrey Rasansky, tells the frightening story of how this incident unfolded on Halloween Day. Isabella apparently picked up the stone from the playground and carried it with her to the classroom where she ingested it. Her teacher, Mia Jennings, did not notice anything even when Isabella lay on the classroom floor unconscious for several minutes. Jennings did not even respond until Isabella's classmates – toddlers – stood around her and tried to wake up the little girl whose lips were blue at that point.

Jennings had no idea what to do. She was not trained to respond to a situation like this one and she did not know how to perform CPR. So, she picked up Isabella and walked down the hall. When she found someone who could perform CPR, it was too late. Isabella was pronounced dead in an area hospital. Once the investigation was completed by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, it was determined that the daycare's "neglectful supervision" caused Isabella's death. Investigators of the agency, which licenses daycares in Texas, also stated in its report that the center's director knew that Jennings did not have the education or the training to perform her job. The report also found 20 other serious deficiencies at the daycare center.

Justice for Isabella's family

One would think that the owners of this daycare would have been made to pay a hefty price for this incident and all those violations. But thanks to an outrageous loophole in Texas' daycare licensing regulations, the owners of Woodbridge were able to sell off their center and cover up all the violations. The new owners were able to erase all the history and start over as if nothing had ever happened. But the owners, because of a horrible loophole in Texas daycare laws, quickly sold the facility.

This is not justice. This is no way to hold wrongdoers accountable for their actions. I am 100 percent behind Jeff's efforts to bring about a change to this unfair loophole in Texas' daycare laws so that Isabella's family gets the justice and compensation they rightfully deserve. They will never have their little girl back again, but if they prevail in this case, they can at least have the satisfaction that they have helped prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.

We are not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call a reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free confidential consultation to "not a fault" persons named in this article and their family members.

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